One More Adventure
by tbf-bandit
Summary: Seven years after the war, Sokka has been living happily in the South Pole, until Aang and Katara show up with an important announcement, and a surprise guest.  What will this adventure lead to? Tokka sprinkled with Kataang and Maiko
1. The Reunion

**A/n: This is the first chaptered story I'm working on, so constructive criticism is highly welcomed! Please R&R! The title may change in the future, thinking of those seem to be the hardest for me. Hope you all enjoy, and as always, I don't own Avatar.**

Sokka's hands worked quickly, racing the setting sun. The blood from his fresh kill was staining the snow beneath his feet red. He hastily but carefully butchered the animal, and packed it away. He could feel the cold creeping up as the light began to sink below the horizon. He threw the bags of meat onto his back and started the trek back to the village.

Hunting was his outlet, his only chance for any kind of adventure now that he had settled back at the South Pole. The war was far in the past for him, almost seven years past. Immediately following Ozai's defeat, Aang and Katara travelled the world, helping people recover from the destruction of the war, with Zuko's funding. Toph stayed in Ba Sing Se, as a favor to the new Fire Lord, becoming a liaison between the Earth and Fire nations.

And then there was Suki. Sokka had travelled with her back to Kyoshi Island where he had stayed, unhappily, for a few seasons. She was always off with the warriors, and he grew lonely there. He hated feeling useless, and he missed being a part of something. They spent many nights fighting over what their future together held, and ultimately decided there was nothing there.

Although it pained him to think about leaving her, he enjoyed his life here. He and Hakoda worked wonders in just a short time to build up the once small village. Many waterbenders and other tribes-people from their sister tribe moved south to aid in the reconstruction. It was nowhere near the size or grandeur of the North, but it had certainly come a long way from what it was.

He came over a hill of ice and saw the glow of lights coming from his home in front of him. He looked over his shoulder to see the last of the sun dip behind the horizon line, leaving nothing but orange and purple glows on the crystallized snow.

As he was taking in the beauty, he heard a loud whistle, followed by a crack, and his head shot back around to the village.

"Flares…" he whispered to himself. Two more shot up, bursting over the village. Flares, in peacetime, were used to signal to anyone out on the tundra that something, or someone, important was in town. They often were shot when his father returned from diplomatic trips, but Hakoda was already in the village.

Then it hit him. "Aang! Katara!"

He shouted their names to himself, and started running. He hadn't seen the two for almost two winters now. Busy doing 'avatar-y things' as Katara described in her letters. As he drew closer to his village he heard cheers and welcomes, and the undistinguishable roar of Appa.

He pushed through the crowd until he saw Aang, arm in arm with his father. He dropped the pack of meat absentmindedly and yelled, "SISTER!"

He ran forward, grabbed her and squeezed hard. "Hi…Sokka…I missed…you too!" She managed to breathe out during his tight grasp. He let her go, and smiled. Still touching her arms.

"You aren't allowed to go this long without visiting! I thought we had this discussion!" He scolded her in his Wang Fire voice, wagging one finger.

Aang broke from his conversation with Hakoda. "It's my fault, brother, and you can't be mad at the Avatar now can you?" Aang wiggled his eyebrows at him.

Sokka marveled at the boy's height. He had shot up a full head's length since he had last seen him, and even though Sokka had grown himself, Aang was giving him decent competition.

"You've grown a beard!" Katara exclaimed, grabbing his chin and rubbing it a bit. "You look so old now!"

Sokka laughed at her. "It's no Wang Fire."

"I think it looks great." Aang said, patting him on the shoulder. "Very manly, and chief-like."

"I agree," Hakoda chimed in, stepping between the two boys. "He'll make a fine chief someday."

"This is a lovely reunion and all." A strange voice came from on top of Appa. "But could someone get me the hell down off this thing?"

Sokka looked between Aang and Katara, but all they both did was smile wildly at him. "She's grumpy because Katara made her wear boots." Aang whispered, elbowing him lightly.

"I heard that Twinkle Toes!" The voice bellowed.

"Toph?" Sokka shouted, looking up.

Her face peeked over the side of the saddle. "I can't see a damn thing up here, and I have the feeling I won't be able to down there either, so could one of you, for the love of the spirits, GET ME THE HELL DOWN!" She screamed the last part, leaning backwards in a huff.

Sokka nervously climbed up the bison. _Seven years_ he thought. _It's been seven years since I've seen her. _

Once he reached the top and jumped in the saddle he saw her. Stupidly expecting to see the small, twelve year old girl, his jaw dropped at the sight of her. She was sitting up, legs and arms crossed. Her black hair, reflecting the lights of the village fell both in front of her pale eyes, and down her back, almost reaching the saddle she was sitting on. It had obviously been victim to Katara's boredom, as it had lots of twists and braids in it, ones similar to styles he'd seen around the village. She was wearing thick furs, obviously from Katara's wardrobe, but even through those he could see the womanly form she had developed. He couldn't describe it any other way than she was just simply stunning.

Her voice broke his thoughts. "Anytime guys…really. I can't believe I let you drag me down here."

He reached out and grabbed her hand with his. "Snoozles?" She asked, breaking wide into a smile.

"How did you—" he began, but he was interrupted by a forceful hug that threw him backwards. He laughed at her actions. "I missed you too, Toph."

Sokka and Hakoda prepared a lavish dinner of meat and fish for themselves and the girls, while Aang munched on vegetables he had brought with him. After a few hours of the generic catch ups, Hakoda excused himself, stating he had an early meeting with some of the tribal leaders.

The group talked for a fair amount of time after the chief left. "This is a great home Sokka." Katara said, leaning into Aang. "It looks much better than it did two years ago."

"Yeah, Dad and I put a lot of work into it. I wanted to build it without bending, so it looks like a sore thumb compared to everyone else's places, but I like it."

"Well I think it looks great!" Toph chimed in, smirking.

"You never change, do you?" He said glaring at her, pretending to be mad.

"I may not be able to feel you, and this hell hole may be completely void of earth, but I can still kick your ass, Sokka." She had her feet free of the boots Katara had forced her into, and she was wiggling her toes against the warmth of the fire. He could see her slender frame much better now that she had removed the thick coat.

Sokka kept catching himself stealing glances at her throughout the whole evening, and he was hoping the others didn't notice.

"Well," Aang began to say as he stood up. "I think it is time for bed for me. It was a long flight today, and I'd like to get some rest and have a talk with you in the morning, if that's alright with you Sokka?"

"Am I in trouble?" He asked, looking between the Avatar and Katara warily.

"No, of course not!" Katara stood as well. "It's just something we'd like to discuss with you, in person. But it's best to wait until the morning." She yawned. "I'm rather tired too. We'll see you in the morning Sokka." She hugged her brother, and said goodnight to Toph. The both left, hand in hand.

Sokka and the earthbender sat quietly for a few moments. He gazed at her freely now, no longer worried of his sister or her boyfriend noticing. Her bright green tunic was hugging her form. Her long dark hair fell softly over her shoulders and down her back. The firelight was painting her face with colors and shadows, as she stared blankly at the ground with her arms crossed over he chest.

He knew she couldn't feel him but he was worried the silence was distractingly obvious. "So…" he began awkwardly. "Do you know what they want to tell me?"

"Yep." She said abruptly, before he even finished his sentence.

"Want to tell me?"

"Nope."

He was taken aback by her shortness with his questions. "Why not?"

"Because Katara asked me not to."

"Since when did you ever listen to Katara?" He asked jokingly looking over at her.

"Since she was the one that has written to me and visited me in the last seven years." She snapped, blank eyes still staring into the fire.

Her words hit him hard. He had almost expected that. He thought of excuses to why he hadn't spoken to her, but they all came down to one thought. He had left her friendship to be with Suki, and after that didn't work out he was too ashamed to admit his mistakes to her.

She obviously knew he was mentally kicking himself, due to the silence. "Look, Snoozles. You were my best friend, the only person in the world who understood me, and you left without so much as a second thought. I've moved past that, and I'm really not one for holding grudges. I came here mostly because Katara asked me too, but to be honest I really wanted to be with you again. I've missed you…a lot."

He stared at her, surprised at her forwardness, it was very different than the Toph he remembered, but when her small fist made hard contact with his upper arm, he smiled.

"And let's just forget I said all that ok?" She said glaring at him.

He reached forward and touched her arm. "It's forgotten, but just so you know…I'm sorry."

She slowly reached her hand to cover his and closed her eyes. They stayed like that for a moment before he realized the familiar cold stone under his fingers. "Space rock!" He exclaimed. "You've kept it all this time?"

"Of course I have," She said laughing. "What did you expect, I shot it back into the sky the second you got on the train with fan-girl?"

"Well I don't know…" He began. He shrugged and then said "I'm just glad you still have it."

She smiled again, her fingers playing with the black band on her arm. "So, I heard something about a beard?" She asked, smirking.

"Yeah." He said, blushing slightly, rubbing the back of his neck. "To be honest, I've just gotten lazy, but it's working to keep my face pretty warm. I've grown my hair out a bit too, so I don't think you should call me ponytail anymore." He laughed at her disgruntled reaction.

"I'll call you whatever I want, Snoozles." She scooted closer to him as she said it. Afraid of more fist flying retribution he backed away slightly. "Relax!" She snapped at him. "I just wanted to see the beard. Or feel it…whatever you want to call it." She giggled at her own joke.

He smiled back at her nervously as she reached her hand to his face. She was off by a few inches, so he grabbed her fingers and guided them to his chin. He swallowed hard, praying that she couldn't feel his heart beat quickening or the heat flushing across his cheeks.

She pulled her hand away and she looked down, trying to hide her own flushing cheeks. "I like it." She said quietly. He smiled at her, as she drew her hand up to cover a yawn.

"Are you tired?" He asked. "Come on, I'll walk you back to the room we set up for you." He started to pick up her boots and coat.

"Sokka?" She said quietly. "Do you think I could just stay here tonight? I know I'm blind and all but sharing a room with Aang and Katara is going to be worse than flying with them."

He laughed at first, and then stopped after he realized what she was implying. "Sure Toph, you can have my bed, I've got a mat I'll sleep on."

"No, it's ok, I'll take the mat, the closer to the ground I am, the more comfortable I feel, even if it is just an icy wasteland." She said gazing downward.

He smiled at her. "I love that you haven't changed a bit. Well, your personality anyway. You look so different."

"I wish I could say the same." She said, waving her hand in front of her face. "But I'll say your beard is manly to make you feel better."

"Gee, thanks." He replied sarcastically. He wanted to tell her how beautiful she was, but decided against it. It was a compliment that she deserved to hear from someone who hadn't blown her off for years.

"Come on, I'll get you the mat." He grabbed her hand and pulled her up. He overestimated the strength it took to pull her up and she collided into him, her body pressed against his. He saw a flush form on her cheeks again. He chuckled nervously. "Sorry." He pulled her with him towards the wall the mat hung on, rolled up.

Letting go of her hand, he walked next to his bed and laid down the mat. He grabbed his pillow and placed it on the mat. She didn't need to know he was giving her his. He reached for her hand again, and led her to the make-shift bed. "Here you go. Can I get you anything else?"

She laid down, and he placed a blanket on top of her. "No, Sokka. But…thanks." She smiled as she closed her eyes.

After he was sure she was comfortable, he doused the fire, and climbed into his bed. His thoughts drifted as he looked out the window up at Yue. _What does Katara and have to tell me? Why is being around Toph making me feel this way?_

The sounds of Toph's soft breathing kept his thoughts from running away, and he soon fell asleep.

**Thanks for reading! Please review! Second chapter coming soon, it is already half done!**


	2. The Announcement

**A/N: Hey everyone! I expected to have this up sooner, but I ended up editing it a lot and it just kept getting longer and longer. Thanks to all who reviewed, it keeps me motivated as I write! Hope you all enjoy this next chapter!**

Sokka woke early the next morning as the sun crept through his window. He knew the others probably wouldn't be up for a few hours, so he decided to get some of his morning chores done.

He climbed over the snoring earth bender that was next to his bed. She was sprawled out on the mat facedown. Her legs and arms were protruding from the blanket, as if she was free falling and trying to slow down.

He smiled as he got dressed. It comforted him knowing that no matter how much of a beautiful woman she had grown into physically, she certainly didn't act it. It made him wonder how she presented herself during meetings at Zuko or the Earth King's palace, laughing at the idea of her sitting barefoot on a chair next to important people, picking her toes as the leaders discussed worldly matters.

A couple hours passed as he worked. He salted and hung the meat he had procured the evening before, started the fire back up and cook some breakfast, and began sharpening his machete.

He sat on a stump just outside the door, running the sharpening stone delicately over the edge of his blade. The sun was getting higher in the sky, and he watched the rest of the village go about their day.

"Good morning, Sokka! " He heard his sister call. He looked to his right and saw her and Aang walking closer to him, their gloved hands waving. He set down the stone, and stood, hugging his sister.

"Morning, guys. Are you hungry?" He asked, turning to go inside. They followed him into his house, and sat next to the fire.

"No thanks." Aang said, making licks of fire dance around his hands absent mindedly.

"We ate with Dad." Katara finished. "Spent some time with him after his meeting, we didn't think you or Toph would be up yet."

"Well I've been up since dawn," he began, gesturing behind him. "But sleeping beauty over there has been knocked out all morning." A sharp pain grew in the back of his head as he heard his sister and the Avatar start to giggle. He looked to his left and saw Toph's space rock bracelet lying next to him.

"You're lucky that's the only earth I had to throw, Snoozles" she grumbled sleepily, flicking her wrist as the bracelet shot back into her hands. She had rolled over to face them and was rubbing her pale eyes. "Sheesh, you guys are loud."

"We're sorry Toph," Katara began sweetly, but her tone quickly changed to motherly. "But it's nearly noon, and it's time you got up anyway." She stood up and grabbed some bread and meat that was sitting by the fire. She brought the plate over to the girl and placed it in her hands. "Eat up, you'll be less cranky."

"Thanks." Toph mumbled, beginning to eat. "It's freezing in here, how do you people live like this?" She asked pulling the blanket tighter around herself.

"Well, they probably wear shoes for one." Aang began.

"And we wear coats." Sokka finished, bringing the furs she had discarded the night before over to her. He helped her slip it over her head and reached for her hand. "Come sit by the fire, it's warmer over here." He led her closer to the flames and sat her down next to where he had previously been seated.

"I hate not being able to see, will you to just tell him why you came here so we can get going?"

Sokka had completely forgotten the previous night's conversation. "Hey! Yeah! What is it you wanted to tell me?" He looked quickly between the couple sitting in front of him, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Toph smirk and she chewed her food.

"Well Sokka…" Katara began hesitantly. "We came here to tell you something. Something important. Something we wanted to tell you in person." She was stalling. Aang placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and nodded. She sighed. "We want to tell you that…" she stopped again, looking at Aang nervously.

"Katara's pregnant." Toph blurted, through a mouthful of food.

"WHAT?" Sokka shrieked looking at Toph, and back at his sister. He stared at her, shocked.

"Thanks, Toph." Aang muttered, putting his hand on his forehead, rubbing it.

"What?" She asked, as though she had done nothing wrong. "You guys were taking too long." She shrugged and continued eating.

Sokka pointed at her accusingly. "They told YOU this?" He yelled, in a high pitched voice.

"They didn't have to tell me." She said looking at him, her brows furled together, annoyed at the volume level of his voice. "I knew the second Sugar Queen stepped down off Appa. I felt two heart beats right away. And don't yell at me, I'm not even involved in this."

"But you knew!" He said, still pointing at her. "You knew last night and you didn't say anything! What the hell, Toph."

"Listen, yell at me all you want, but I'm not the one that did the nasty with your sister. And you know, they've been together since the end of the war, so I'm sure it's not the only time they've done it!"

Sokka's eyes widened. "Toph, you aren't helping." Katara snapped, glaring the blind girl.

"I didn't come here to help." She laughed. "I came here to be a witness so ponytail over there didn't try to kill the Avatar."

Thoughts were racing though Sokka's head. He didn't know who to be mad at. He was trying to process everything that had just been said. He looked between a smug Toph, a glowering Katara and a nervous Aang, who was purposefully avoiding eye contact with him.

Katara's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Sokka…" she began leaning around the fire to place a hand on his knee. "Please say something."

He shot a look at her, and then back at Aang. Without saying a word he lunged for the boy, who shot back against the wall of the hut. Sokka felt a pull on his collar as he fell back down hard. Toph was holding his shirt with a firm grip shaking her head. He slumped, dejectedly. He put his face in his hands and mumbled into them. "You aren't even married yet, Katara. What would Dad say?"

"Dad knows." She said quietly. "We told him this morning at breakfast. And we are going to get married, that's the other reason we're here, why Toph came with us. We're going to have a ceremony at the Western Air Temple in a few weeks. Dad's given us his blessing, why can't you?"

He sighed, looking at his sister. She had tears in her eyes. He knew his approval meant the world to her. He pulled her into a hug. "You know you have my blessing." He whispered. "It just would have been a lot easier to hear the wedding part first."

She laughed into his shoulder, a tear escaping her eyes. "Yeah…don't do that again Toph." Katara said, muffled by Sokka's fur coat. She pulled away from him and smiled. "Thank, you Sokka." She placed a hand on his cheek, causing him to smile wider.

"Come here, you pesky little airbender." Sokka said to Aang, who still had his back firmly against the wall. Aang jumped over the fire and pummeled Sokka with a hug.

"Am I missing out on one of those moments?" Toph spoke up and leaned her head on Sokka's arm. They all laughed; enjoying the first group hug they had had in a very, very long time.

The rest of the day had passed by with discussions of the wedding and other plans. Sokka had decided to travel with Aang, Katara and Toph on Appa, to help set up for the ceremony, instead of traveling there later with his Dad and other notable tribesman who were invited.

They decided to leave that night, to at least get to warmer, earthier areas where Toph could 'see'. The more she whined, the more everyone wanted to climb on Appa and get a move on.

As Aang was loading the rest of everyone's things onto the bison, Hakoda approached the group. He pulled his son and daughter into him with either arm. "Behave you two." He began. "Sokka, be nice to your sister, she's done nothing wrong. She fell in love, and she's going to bless this family with a beautiful child. A son I hope, but I'll settle for what she gives me." He kissed her on the top of her head, smiling, and squeezed them both before releasing them.

He stepped forward and placed a hand on Toph's shoulder. "Keep an eye on my son. He'll never admit it to you, but you really bring out this best in him. I'm glad to see you back in his life." He leaned closer to her, ignoring Sokka's moan of embarrassment from behind him. He whispered in her ear "He needs you more than he realizes."

She smiled, leaning her head down so her long black bangs covered her already rosey cheeks. Hakoda patted her head briefly before reaching for Aang's arm and grasping it firmly. "Look at me, soon to be Father-in-Law of the Avatar. I'm honored. Travel safe, son. I'll see you in a few weeks."

Katara was beaming. She kissed her father on the cheek once more before climbing onto Appa. Aang grabbed hold of Toph around her waist and airbended them into Appa's saddle.

Sokka clasped arms with his father. "See you in a few weeks, Dad." He said. Hakoda nodded, smiling and began to let go. Sokka held firm and whispered, "And quit giving Toph a big head, she inflates it enough on her own as it is." Hakoda winked at him.

"Go on, get up there. I'll see you all soon."

Appa kicked off as soon as Sokka had settled in. The group looked back at the shrinking village behind them.

"Looks like Team Avatar is back in business!" Aang shouted over his shoulder, smiling. "Are you guys excited?"

"I'm just excited to go to a place where I don't have to wear boots." Toph muttered.

"We'll fly until we hit somewhere warmer, a few hours maybe, and then we'll camp for the night."

"There!" Aang shouted, jerking everyone else out of a nap. Katara had curled up just behind the airbender, and Toph and collapsed, her head in Sokka's lap, who was leaning his back against the saddle. He thrashed at the sound of Aang's voice, throwing her body off of him.

"Who? What? Who's attacking? What's going on?" His hand was groping at his own leg trying to reach his knife.

Aang jumped into the saddle next to Katara, kissing her quickly on the cheek. "Relax, Sokka, I just found a place to set up camp. Appa's going to take us down."

No sooner had Appa thumped onto the rocky island had Toph ripped off her boots and slid down the bison's side.

"Land! Sweet land! I can see again!" She wiggled her toes against the hard earth. She stomped the ground, causing it to lurch beneath her feet. She fell backwards, causing dust to fly up around her.

Katara was laughing as she climbed down from Appa.

Toph rolled a couple times back and forth, ending on her stomach, arms spread out wide. "I missed you earth!"

"You know Toph," Sokka said, laying out his sleeping mat. "You have a strange relationship with the dirt."

She glared at him, sightless eyes somehow finding his. "At least I have a relationship with something other than my weapons." She jeered.

"Well, to be fair." Aang interjected. "Earth _is _your weapon."

"No one asked you Twinkle Toes!" She slammed her fist against the ground, shooting a pillar of rocks at him, but he quickly dodged them.

"Come on Katara, let's go grab some firewood." Aang said smiling, leaving the two behind, who were glaring at each other.

"You should be nicer to me you know." Sokka snapped at the blind girl, who had laid her head back onto the earth.

She grunted in annoyance and in two swift motions she formed her signatory earth tent, slamming a wall in between them.

"Hey!" He shouted at her, stomping over and pounding on the rock wall. "What did I do?" He was leaning his entire weight against the rock tent trying to push it back into the ground.

Without warning the front of the tent disappeared. He collapsed forward, and landed with an "ooph" on top of the girl inside. She had flipped onto her back while she was inside, and when he landed on her, his face was inches from hers.

He watched smiling smugly, as a blush formed on her face. But the shock on her face quickly turned to anger as she tried to shove him off. "Get off me, Snoozles!" She pushed hard but he didn't budge. Years of living and working back home proved useful, as he had become exponentially stronger than he was when he was a boy.

He laughed warmly at her efforts. With the hand that wasn't supporting him, he grabbed both of her wrists and pinned them above her head. She struggled beneath him, squirming, which just caused him to laugh even more. Deep down, he knew she could easily earth bend him off of her, even without her hands.

"Ugh!" She screamed. "Get off!" She half-laughed the last two words, frustrated at the situation.

"Nope!" He said back defiantly. "Not until you tell me why you're being such a grump!"

"I'm not being a _grump" _she shot back, emphasizing the word as if it left a nasty taste in her mouth. "I'm just tired and you won't let me go to sleep." She sighed, giving up the struggle against his weight and pouted.

After she became still he became overwhelmingly aware of the way her body felt under his. He slowly released her wrists, bringing his arm slowly back to match his other. She didn't move her arms from where he had put them, even free from his grasp. He shifted his weight so it was even on both arms. She breathed in so sharply when he moved, it almost sounded like a gasp. He was looking at her still-pouting lips, almost hypnotized by them. His eyelids felt heavy. He knew his heart was pounding against his chest, and he knew she could feel it. He also knew she could feel the other physical reactions happening to his body. He leaned in, his mind going blank, only wanting to do one thing.

"What the spirits are you two doing?" Katara shouted, peeking into the earth tent, with her motherly tone, hands on her hips.

Sokka had been thrown so off guard by the noise he shot up, hitting his head hard on the top of the tent. Toph burst into laughter, curling into a ball, hugging her stomach as Sokka crawled out of the tent.

"What the hell Katara? You scared the crap out of me!" He was kneeling just outside the tent rubbing his head.

"Well, sorry." She snapped. "I saw your legs and her feet sticking out. One minute she was moving and the next she wasn't. I thought you finally had enough of her teasing and ended her." He could tell she was only half joking.

"Sokka? Kill me? Yeah…right. I don't even think Twinkle Toes is powerful enough for that!"

"Hey!" Aang shot back. "I could if I wanted to! You just count yourself lucky I was raised by monks." He laughed, placing the firewood into a make-shift pit. "Besides, Katara's right. If you both live to see our wedding day, it would be a miracle."

Sokka, still rubbing his head, crawled over to his mat and flopped down. Toph managed to quell her laughter enough to take the plate of food from Katara.

"Let's eat and then get some rest." She said, handing Aang and Sokka some food. "I want to make it to the Temple by tomorrow evening so we can get to work setting up, which means we'll have to leave as soon as the sun comes up."

"Ugh." Toph sighed. "I knew as soon as you two showed up on my doorstep it'd be nothing but getting up early and work, work, work!"

Aang smiled. "Yeah, but you're happy to be out of the city right?"

"Good point." She quietly slid backwards into her tent. "Night, guys." She said as the earth shot back up, closing off the tent.

Aang and Katara were both staring at Sokka. "What?" He said through a mouthful of food. They looked at each other smiling, but said nothing. "I hate you both sometimes."

"Yeah, we know." Katara said, glancing over at the earth tent before taking the last bite of her food.

Sokka followed her gaze, lingering just for a moment before looking back at his food.

He took another bite and stared at his sister, who was talking about nothing with Aang.

_Damnit, Katara, you ruin everything._

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you all like this chapter ^_^ Please review…hope to have the next chapter up shortly!**


	3. The Arrival

**A/N: Here's chapter 3! Hope you like it. Warning: Zuko & Mai might be a tad OOC, but I'm putting it off to the fact that they've grown up and I think in the process became a little less melancholy :D Just my two cents. Anyway…here you go!**

They had been at the Air Temple for three days now, and even though the wedding was still a week off, Katara was working them like slaves. She and Aang were currently cleaning some of the bedrooms inside, preparing for some of their early guests. Mai and Zuko were coming early to catch up with the group as well take a much needed vacation. They were expecting Iroh early as well, who had agreed to help with the food for the day.

Sokka and Toph were out on the main overlook of the temple. Katara had instructed Toph to make stone benches for the ceremony, and for Sokka to cut away straying brush and leaves from doorways and arches.

They worked in silence. Toph hadn't spoken to him since the night Katara and interrupted their private…session. He could tell she was being wary of every movement he made, her head twitching in his direction whenever he stepped what she thought was too close.

He was stealing glances at her, he couldn't help it. He hadn't been able to get her out of his mind. He still had the vision of the tiny girl squirming under him. When he closed his eyes he could feel her wrists in his hands, her hips pressing against his. _Damnit Katara._ He cursed silently to himself for the millionth time since that night.

He swung his machete, breaking vines and spider webs loose from their hold on an arched window. He pulled them down with his hands and tossed them into the pile he'd made. A burst of dust flew at him as a breeze sliced through the newly found opening and he coughed.

He looked at Toph, whose ears were turned in his direction, but she was feigning indifference to the warrior's noises. Anger started boiling inside of him. _Why won't she talk to me? I didn't do anything!_ The more he argued with himself the more annoyed he became.

He stalked over to her, sword still in hand. "Listen Toph, you have to talk to me at some point!" He yelled, waving his arms around, swinging the sword dangerously close to her face.

She silently, but quickly grabbed the sword out of his hand and threw it on the ground with a loud clank. She glared at him, eyes narrowed. "Listen, meat head." She hissed at him, shoving a finger into his chest. "Whether or not I _have_ to talk to you is irrelevant, especially if you accidentally chop my head off. Watch where you're swinging that damn thing."

She began to stomp away, abandoning her work on the seating. Sokka ignored the mistreated weapon and grabbed her arm whipping her around. "Why are you ignoring me?" He questioned her, grip tight. "I didn't do anything. You haven't spoken to me since—"

She ripped her arm out of his grasp, stopping him mid-sentence. "I have nothing to talk to you about." But she didn't walk away from him this time. She stood steady, eyes on the ground. A small smile grew on his face as he saw the flush go across her cheeks, but he quickly lost it.

"You have nothing to talk to me about?" He began, speaking softly. "We haven't seen each other in so long, how can you have nothing to talk to me about?" He was trying to mask the hurt feeling in the sound of his voice.

She shrugged, still staring at the ground. Her hand was rubbing where Sokka had grabbed it. "You're different." She said flatly, it took him by surprise. "I'm different. Everyone's…different. We aren't the same little kids we were back when we ended the war. Everyone went on their separate way and grew up, and so now, things are just different."

She had closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, trying to cover her sadness with anger. "I don't understand. I'm not any different, well, I mean unless you count facial hair." He laughed to himself rubbing his chin, forgetting for a moment that Toph was trying to be serious with him. He snapped back to reality. "Are…are you mad at us for leaving? Are you mad at me?"

"Not everything is about you!" She snapped at him, pale eyes shooting open to glare into his.

He held his arms up. "Whoa, okay, I'm sorry I'm just trying to figure out why you're mad at me. You said back home that you weren't one to hold a grudge…" His voice trailed off as her eyes fell back to the ground, and her arms shrugged to the side.

"Whatever, Snoozles, I'm not mad at you. I'm sorry. Everything's better now, let's just get back to work." She shoved past him, stepping over his sword that still lay on the ground, and started working on the benches once more. _She's so stubborn._

"Toph, you and I both know you're not better, stop putting up barriers, I'm your friend…talk to me."

Her back was to him and she sighed, hanging her head. He saw she was considering her thoughts. Without turning to face him she asked in practically a whisper, "What would you have done if Katara hadn't interrupted?"

He thought he was ready for her to say anything. _I hate you for leaving me_ or _you were my friend but you left. _He definitely wasn't expecting her to ask that. His silence caused her to turn and face him, arms crossed. He could see the annoyance growing on her face as she furrowed her eyebrows. He was speechless, he didn't know what to say to her, and so he just looked at her.

"That's what I thought. See, Snoozles, _nothing_ to talk about." She began to walk away.

"Toph wait!" He called her, pointing at the sky. "Something's coming!"

Her head looked up, but she saw nothing. "I assume you're pointing at something in the air, care to elaborate? Or are you just trying to keep me here and argue." She snaked at him, growing more annoyed by the second.

"I think its…" He squinted into the sunlight, trying to make out the shape in the sky "Hey, yeah, I think it's Zuko!"

They both watched as the balloon made its decent onto the temple floor. Zuko ducked, and emerged out of the flying vessel. Sokka couldn't help but look shocked as Toph ran to him, throwing her arms around his waist, and then tossing him a friendly punch in the arm.

Katara had told him Toph travelled often between the Earth and Fire capitols, but it never occurred to him that they had become close friends. Actually, what struck him even more surprising was when she turned and jumped on Mai, who smiled.

"We haven't seen you in a while." Mai said, returning Toph's hug. "But we figured you'd be here."

Zuko's gaze went from the blind girl to Sokka. "Holy crap." He laughed, running forward and grabbing Sokka's arm before pulling him into a hug. "And _you_ we haven't seen for even longer!" He had his hands on Sokka's shoulders, patting them. "I see your Dad all the time, almost as often as Toph, but you, you seem to think the Fire Nation is still an evil land!"

Sokka laughed at Zuko's enthusiasm as both girls watched from behind them. "Never." He said simply. "Someone's got to watch the village when he's gone."

"Fair enough." Zuko said, still smiling. "You should get yourself some sages though; it helps when you need a vacation."

Toph's shout interrupted their conversation. "IROH!"

Sokka looked at the ship, but instead of a hefty old man stepping out of it, a slender servant did carrying a small child. "Uh…Toph? I think your feet need their eyes checked….that's-"

"Their son." The blind girl snapped, finishing his sentence for him.

Sokka's eyes widened and he shot looks between the toddler, now squeeling happily in Toph's tight squeeze, and Zuko and Mai. "Your…what…when? How…what…wow."

"Eloquently put." Mai smirked at him, taking baby Iroh back from Toph. "We weren't going to bring him, but _someone_ doesn't trust the nursemaid." She jerked her head in Zuko's direction, and he quickly glared at her, pointing.

"Hey!" He shouted. "That woman hates me! Her life goal is to turn my son against me!"

"Zuko, she's a nanny. I think her life goal is to not get pooped on." Toph giggled at him, obviously familiar with the situation. "I'm happy you brought him, he's gotten so big in just a few months!"

"I know." Mai agreed. "So it'd be nice to set him down for a nap, he didn't sleep the whole way here, I don't think he was prepared to fly, but Firelord Hot Pants insisted on it."

Zuko shot his wife another fiery glare. Toph grabbed Mai's hand. "Come on, I'll show you to the room Katara and Aang have set up for you." The girls set off into the temple, followed quickly by half a dozen servants.

Sokka's eyes followed Toph until she disappeared behind a stone wall. It didn't go unnoticed.

"Toph's really grown hasn't she?" Zuko asked leaning his head into Sokka's eye line, which was still fixed on the spot Toph had disappeared. He had a devilish look in his eyes.

"What? Oh…yea." The warrior replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess so." He wanted to change the subject. "So, you've reproduced! How old is he?"

Zuko laughed. "He turned one this past spring. He's already showing signs of bending; it's going to be a crazy day when that boy starts his training." He smiled proudly. "I'm surprised you hadn't heard. Your father was at the birthday celebration."

Sokka thought back, remembering his father mentioning the reason he trekked up to the Fire Nation, but he obviously wasn't listening at the time. "Yea, I think I need to work on my communication skills. So things are going well?"

"Not too bad." Zuko began as the pair started walking to the edge of the overlook. "The nations are peaceful. We've got rebels rising here and there against bending, but it isn't something we haven't been able to keep a grasp on." The Fire Lord clasped his hands behind his back and looked at Sokka from the corner of his eyes. "Toph really gets a lot done for me."

Sokka knew Zuko was trying to press the matter, but didn't know why. "Well, that's great!" He said trying to sound apathetic in hopes Zuko would drop her. He didn't.

"She missed you, you know." He said it quietly, looking quickly over his shoulder to make she the earth bender wasn't in sight. "Every time she was at the palace for a meeting, and a servant alerted us that the Water Tribesman had arrived, she'd rush down to the docks, usually destroying a statue or something in the process. But every time, she'd come back in nonchalant manner and tell me there was nothing of interest."

Sokka watched Zuko intently as the scarred man smiled. He knew what he was getting at, and it put his stomach in a knot. Toph was hoping he'd be there with his Dad and the others. To be honest, she was the reason he offered to stay behind on those trips, afraid to see her, afraid of what she'd say to him.

The two men stood in silence staring outwards on the vista in front of them. Sokka was completely lost in thought, and Zuko was well aware it was his fault. He patted Sokka on the back. "It's great to see you again, Sokka, but I should go find my wife and son before Toph tries to run off with them." He laughed a bit, and then turned to leave, letting Sokka ponder his thoughts alone.

The next morning the six friends sat out on the overlook, eating breakfast. Mai and Zuko had abandoned their official robes and were dressed much more comfortably.

The previous night went by uneventful, just typical chatter of catching up and nonsense. Toph continued to obviously avoid Sokka, and when Katara asked what was going on, both ignored her.

"I think we should take Appa and go into town today." Katara announced looking between Toph and Mai. "Take a girls trip and go shopping!" She said it enthusiastically.

"Just a girl trip?" Sokka asked, hurt. "But I love shopping!"

"You want to go dress shopping?" Mai asked, fighting back a smirk.

"Well, no…I didn't know it was that kind of shopping." Sokka hung his head and went back to his meal.

"Mai wanted to get a new dress for the ceremony, and I have some things I still could use in the beauty department." Katara said, standing up.

"Then why do I have to go?" Toph whined.

"Because you're a girl, and you need to spend some quality time with us." Katara giggled at Toph's reaction. "Besides, you could use another spa day, when's the last time you washed your hair?"

Toph pulled some hair in front of her nose, and scoffed after dust flew into her nostrils. "Fine." She said, dropping the strands.

"Good! It's settled!" The water bender grabbed Toph's hand and began to drag her in Appa's direction, Mai following close behind.

Zuko jumped up, grabbing his wife's arm. "Where are you going?" He asked in a panic.

"Were you not just listening?" She asked him raising an eyebrow and pushing his hand off her.

"Of course I was! But you can't go into a Fire Nation town dressed like that! You're the queen, you can't walk around like a commoner! What if someone recognizes you!"

She glared at him as the others laughed at his distress. "Geez, Zuko, when did you get so uptight?" Aang prodded him with his glider from his seat.

"I'm not uptight! It's just not right for her to walk around dressed like that! If someone recognizes her and then—"

Mai cut him off, whacking him on the forehead with her fist. "Then they bow to me or I stab them." She said defiantly and then climbed onto Appa with the other two girls. "Relax hot stuff, we won't be long."

With that, Katara gave the bison the magic words, and they were off, leaving behind the Fire Lord, being taunted by his two friends.

"What about this one?" Katara said, holding up a long, silky yellow dress.

Mai pondered it. "No, that won't look right with her skin."

Toph, who was sitting on a cushion in the corner of the dress shop, shot her head at the Fire Lady's comment. "I'm sorry, who's skin? What the hell, you said this was for you!" Mai and Katara smiled at each other as the blind girl continued to whine. "You guys tricked me here! I am not wearing a dress, you can't make me!"

Katara sighed. "Oh yes I can, it's my wedding, and I will not have you running around in a dirt covered tunic, drunkenly taunting foreign leaders!"

Toph frowned, crossing her arms. "Why not? I do it every day at meetings."

Mai laughed. "That's because you don't smell half as bad as most of those old, slobbering men, Zuko doesn't notice how scruffy you are."

"I'm not scruffy." She shot back. "I'm…okay fine I'm scruffy."

The two older girls went back to their search. Mai reached for a dark green piece, partly hidden behind a door. "Katara! This is perfect!" The water bender ran over, caressing the fabric with her hands.

"Yes!" She said. "This will really bring out her eyes. Toph come here, and put this on."

The three girls disappeared into the dressing room and after much arguing and swearing from Toph, she was in the dress. They walked her out and helped her onto a pedestal that was in front of three mirrors. The two older admired the younger, tossing out compliments and suggestions as they had the tailor come and begin making adjustments.

The deep green fabric had a beautiful golden sheen to it, and reflected the lights in the shop with every little movement she made. It was sleeveless, and fell over her curves. A slit running up the side exposed peaks at her pale leg.

The earth bender had her arms crossed and huffed everytime Katara or Mai would instruct the tailor. "I hate you both." She mumbled.

"I think you look great Toph, and I think I know someone who would agree." Katara taunted her in a sing-song voice.

It was received with a sightless glare. Mai added to the torture. "I agree, Sokka seems to be quite taken with you. He's always looking at you when he thinks no one is watching."

Toph lowered her head trying to hide the heat that was burning on her face, but the mirrors in front of her betrayed her efforts.

Katara continued. "I haven't seen him be this taken with something, or someone, in ages."

Toph was fed up. "Both of you stop!" She yelled, throwing her arms to her sides, which caused the tailor to jump backwards from her. "That's enough. You can force me into this dress but I won't stand here and be made fun of. I would walk away from you both if there weren't needles millimeters from my damn feet."

Mai and Katara both laughed warmly at her outburst, but apologized. They quickly changed the subject as the tailor got back to work. Their voices faded in Toph's mind as she took in what they had said.

She too had noticed Sokka staring at her, and ever since the night in her tent she couldn't get him out of her head. She had spent three agonizing days wondering what would have happened if Sugar Queen hadn't snuck up on them and Sokka just got her hopes up even more when he couldn't answer her question.

_We keep getting interrupted_ she thought. _First Katara, then Zuko's arrival, this has got to be all in my head._ She frowned at the ground, wincing as the tailor worked too close to her feet.

_I'm just over thinking this, and they are just messing with me. There is _nothing _going on with Sokka, he's just being affectionate because he hasn't seen me in so long. Yeah…that's it._

She nodded to herself, satisfied with her conclusions. After what seemed like hours, the tailor announced she was finished, and Toph jumped down. She waved her arms out and struck a pose to appease her friends. "Do I look awesome or what?" She asked jokingly.

Katara ran forward and hugged her. "You look beautiful." She said. "I can't wait to do your hair for the wedding! Oh and your make up! Oh my goodness, you'll just be the belle of the ball!" Katara was getting way to giddy for Toph's liking.

"I'll let you do all that crap if you promise me one thing." She said holding up her finger. Katara nodded and she went on. "I am NOT wearing shoes."

**A/N: *Evil Face* I don't know why I like torturing these two…but I do. I promise, more good Tokka love fun is one it's way. Stay tuned and PLEASE review! It helps my write :D**


	4. The Night Before

**A/N: Hello everyone! Here's another chapter for you power hungry Tokkaneers. I think you'll really enjoy this one! The review-baby is hungry, so you should feed it! Enjoy!**

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The rest of the week had come and gone without anything significant to note. Zuko and Sokka enjoyed some sparring; something neither of them had had time for in the most recent years. The girls had been fussing over the baby for the majority of the time, and Katara had told the Fire Nation couple of her own news.

Guests from all over continued to arrive, including the 'real' Iroh (which Sokka had taken to calling him), the Earth King and Queen (and the throngs of servants and nobles that came with them). Chief Arnook arrived with his wife, Gran-Pakku and Gran-Gran, shortly before Hakoda did.

The once peaceful Temple was now buzzing with people and noise. Toph hated it. Katara had taken to scorning her every time she slouched or didn't look 'presentable'. She'd been so busy helping Katara with whatever she needed she didn't have time to talk to Sokka or even worry about their whole situation.

The night before the wedding had finally arrived and Toph sat with Mai and Ty Lee in Katara's room, getting ready for the feast. Well, Mai and Ty Lee were getting ready. Katara was pacing nervously back and forth whispering questions to herself and then answering them. Toph was sitting with her arms and legs crossed on the floor, back leaning on Mai's chair.

"Katara, if you don't calm down your head will explode, and I am not cleaning it up." Toph said snidely causing the water bender to come to a halt and stare at her.

"It would be a lot easier on me Toph if you would get dressed and look decent instead of sitting on the floor antagonizing me!"

Toph looked up at the two girls behind her with a look of confusion. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

Ty Lee jumped up and began stroking Katara's temples. "Toph's right, you just need to breath, everything will be fiiiiiiiiiiine!" She spoke in a calming voice, attempting to soothe Katara's aura, but the anxious girl quickly batted her hands away.

Katara took a deep breath. "Toph, will you please just put something else on? Maybe let Mai do your hair a bit?"

"Katara, I'm not arguing with you for the fun with it, though it _is _fun. We only got that one dress remember? And it's for tomorrow. What am I supposed to wear?"

The water bender looked pleadingly between Mai and Ty Lee. The latter piped up. "I've got some extra dresses that should fit her. Mai can work on her hair in the mean time." She cheerily cart wheeled out of the room.

Toph sighed as Mai pulled her gently by her hair so she was directly in front of her, and she felt the brush began to run through her hair. _Only two more days of dealing with panicked Sugar Queen and then I can go back to being dirty in peace._

The three girls sat in silence as Mai brushed and braided Toph's hair. Katara was sitting in front of a mirror, obsessing over a few strands of hair that wouldn't stay where she wanted them. Ty Lee waltzed back in holding three dresses and held them all up. "Which one do you think?"

"Geez, Ty, you're here for barely three days, how many dresses did you bring?" Mai smirked at her, still looking at Toph's hair in her hands.

"I like having the choice." The acrobat shrugged. "I wear the same thing every day back in Kyoshi, its fun to take a break from it all. Anyway, I think she'd look best in this one." She was shaking the deep red, glittering dress that was in her left hand.

Katara looked between the dresses and the blind girl on the floor and nodded. "That should work. It's a little short though, don't you think?"

"All of Ty's dresses are short." Mai laughed. "You shouldn't look surprised."

"My legs are a longer than Toph's" Ty Lee said, ignoring Mai's jab. "She'll be fine. Besides, she's got great legs she could stand to show them off every once and a while." She smiled evilly. "And I think _cutie _would love to see them more."

Toph's fist slammed on the ground. "Why does everyone think Sokka's obsessed with me!" She yelled. "You all need to lay the hell off." She huffed and re-crossed her arms. "And, spirits, quick talking about me like I'm not here! I'm blind, not deaf."

For the first time all night, Katara laughed. Mai announced she was done with Toph's hair, and with Katara's approval they all helped the small girl into the dress.

**

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**

Sokka was already seated at the table Aang had told him to sit, talking to Zuko and his father who sat across from him about some new weapons the Fire Nation was developing. Zuko was mid-sentence when simultaneous he and Hakoda stood, with smiles on their face.

As Sokka turned around he saw the reason. He slowly stood as three beaming women, and a disgruntled Toph, walked around the corner out to where the dining area was set up. Aang and Hakoda both walked to hug Katara, as Zuko took his wife's hand, and kissed his son's head.

Sokka stood still, rooted in place, his mouth hanging open as the frowning girl continued walking towards him. Still staring at her in shock she pulled the chair next to him out and plopped down. "Wow To—" He began but she cut him off, pointing a finger in his face.

"Don't start, Snoozles. This is only half as bad as tomorrow will be, I don't want to hear a word about it." She was scowling and it made him laugh, he sat back down.

"Bad? But you look ama—"

"What did I _just_ say!" She glared at him, causing him to laugh even more.

"Okay." He held up his hands in defeat. "I won't tell you how beautiful you look." He smirked as she shot another look at him. "Where did you even get that, it looks like something Ty Lee would wear."

"It is Ty Lee's." She grumble, pulling the braid over her shoulder and began undoing it. Once her hair was untwisted, she flipped it behind her, so it cascaded down her back like a waterfall. "I'm going to need alcohol to get through this."

He stood once more and took her hand. "Come on, Glitter Queen, let's get you something to drink." He dragged her away from the table before she could register what he'd just called her.

**

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**

Several hours (and drinks) had passed since the feast had begun. Toph's mood had lightened significantly with the help of her liquid courage. She and Sokka had become completely immersed in their own conversation, whispering and giggling, completely unaware of anyone else at the table with them.

"Does not!" Sokka exclaimed laughing.

"It does too!" Toph shot back scratching his chin. "It feels like the underbelly of a porcupine-bear!"

He swatted at her hand several times, missing each time, causing the two to laugh even more.

Aang, Zuko and Mai were staring at the two with bored expressions. Hakoda was dancing with his daughter and the Avatar had taken his seat.

"Man, they really need to just go get a room." Mai whispered, which caused Zuko to snort into his drink.

"This is the happiest either of them have been since we got here." Aang answered them. "It's good to see them laughing again."

"They're laughing because they've had too much to drink." Zuko scoffed, watching Sokka clumsily grabbing for his cup. "Hey giggle twins!" He shouted at them to get their attention. The both looked at him, sloppy smiles on their faces. "You two want to find somewhere else to pick on each other; you're both making me sick."

Mai fought back a smirk as she took a sip of her wine. Aang couldn't help but laugh.

"Well _sorry_ that we know how to have fun at a party, Sparky. When's the last time you've had a real laugh? Oh right it was that time that one Earth Kingdom general got his underwear caught on the corner of his chair and gave himself a wedgie when he stood up to yell at me!"

Mai practically chocked on her drink, and Zuko nodded smiling at the memory. "I forgot about that. You do make out meetings interesting, I'll give you that."

The earth bender crossed her arms in satisfaction and nodded. "But whatever if you want to be bored then I'll just leave you knuckleheads alone! Come on, Ponytail!" She stood up grabbing the older boy by the arm and dragging him towards the inside of the Temple.

The last thing the others at the table heard was Sokka screaming, "It's a warrior's wolf-tail!"

Toph continue to drag a stumbling Sokka by his wrist through the interior of the temple. "Where are you taking me?" He whined trying to regain his footing.

"I don't know, but we're apparently not welcomed in the presence of Sifu and Mrs. Hotman." Sokka laughed, tripping again.

"Please tell me you call him nicknames in your meetings!"

Toph smirked. "I did at first, but Mai got more upset than Zuko did, so I stopped." She had reached her room, and without any better idea for where to go, she pushed the door to the side and shoved Sokka inside. He stumbled across the floor and fell backwards onto the bed.

"Why are we in your room?" He asked staring at the spinning ceiling.

"Because, stupid, I don't want to wear this ridiculous thing anymore!" She said yanking at the side of the dress, trying to get it off. "Ugh! Will you help me get this off?" She walked over to the side of the bed where he turned his head to face her.

She obviously didn't seem to see any problem with the request, but the moment she asked it, Sokka froze. Even drunk, she shouldn't be asking him to take her clothes off. He swallowed hard and sat up. When he hadn't moved to her, Toph moved around and stood in between his legs that hung over the edge of the bed. She had pulled her hair over her shoulder, out of the way of the fastenings of the dress that she couldn't see. "Earth to Snoozles, will you help me please?"

He stammered to answer her. "Do you…um…you want me…is there anything on you under that?" He finally managed to get out.

She sighed in exasperation. "Yes, pervy pants, I have underwear on. Just help me out of this thing." He began undoing the knots of fabric on her back. "You know, if you were blind you wouldn't be so concerned with nudity." She said looking over her shoulder at him.

He ignored her. His eyes were fixed on her back as he un-did the final knot. He could see the wrappings that covered her chest, but he still felt a knot in his stomach that sobered him. He stood, putting his hands on her shoulders, and slowly pushed the straps of her dress to the side, causing the dress to fall to the ground. He followed the shining fabric with his eyes as it bunched at her feet. His hands stayed on her arms as he looked down at her, her pale skin glowing in the candlelight. The wrappings on her chest and small, somewhat revealing, shorts were the only thing she still wore, and it was the least he'd ever seen her in. Every feeling he had the night he was on top of her in the tent came flooding back to him.

Her frame was still petite like he remembered it, but he couldn't stop his eyes from wandering over her womanly shape. Zuko was right, she really had grown. Her hands were still playing with her hair, fingers combing through it as she stood in front of him.

A loud noise from outside the door caused him to jump and he fell back down onto the bed, dropping his hands from Toph's side. She cocked her head slightly and laughed at his quick reaction. "Relax." She said, moving from her spot in between his legs, much to his dismay. "It's just one of the servants; I think he dropped some of Sparky's stuff."

She jumped on the bed, causing Sokka to bob up and down. She flopped backwards, head landing on the pillow and hair spraying out to the sides. Her arms lay outwards, hands dangling off the bed, and her legs were up on the bed, folded slightly at the knee, and she was wiggling her toes. "It feels so good to be out of that thing."

Knowing she could no longer 'see', Sokka turned around to face her, sitting cross legged on the foot of her bed. She was breathing slowly and her eyes were closed, obviously happy to relax after what must have been a stressful day with Katara. He watched as her chest moved up and down, and saw her cheeks were flushed with color, probably from all the drinks she'd had. A smile grew on her face. "Why are you staring at me?"

He stumbled with his words. "What…I…you're like half nak…what…I'm sorry." He looked down at his lap, but when she started laughing it hit him. "Hey! How did you know I was looking at you?"

She giggled. "I didn't, but I do now."

Sokka gasped and reached forward, yanking a pillow out from under her head. She yelped as he whacked her with it. She began to flail, laughing harder each time he brought the pillow down. As she put her hands up to fight against the blows he threw the pillow to the side and began to tickle her. Her laughing grew even louder. Her tiny hands were fighting against his strong ones, trying to push them away from her stomach. "Sok…Sokka…oh…stop!" She breathed in between laughs. "Sokka…seriously! Please I'm going to throw up on you!"

He stopped moving his fingers, but kept his hands on her waist. She had finally stopped laughing, but she was panting, and her face had flushed even more. She perched herself up onto her forearms, her face moving close to his. "You, captain boomerang, are a jerk."

She whispered it so quietly he barely heard it. Everything about the way she looked completely shut his brain down. A lock of black hair had fallen in between her eyes, and she was biting her lip, still breathing hard. He lost complete control.

Before he even realized what he was doing he had leaned forward hard, crushing his lips on hers. She pulled back from almost instantly, eyes wide. He opened his mouth to apologize but before he could she had pulled his face back close to hers, kissing him wildly. She leaned back onto the bed pulling him with her. He swung his legs up onto the bed and crawled on top of her.

His hands worked with a mind of their own. They roamed her body, exploring her soft skin. Her hands had left his face and were moving down his sides, tugging at his shirt. He broke their kiss just for a moment as she pulled it off of him. The way she was tracing his muscles was driving him wild.

She smiled into his kiss, and it caused him to pull away. She had a deliciously evil look on her face as she began to snake her fingers into the top of his pants. His eyes darted across her face trying to read what she was thinking. "Are you sure you want this?" He asked huskily, praying she'd say yes.

"Always the gentleman." She smirked. Catching him off guard she flipped him on his back and was sitting on top of him, hands on either side of his head. She lowered he face to his, lips just barely grazing his. "I just want to finish what you started."

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**A/N: Once again I end a chapter feeling quite evil ^_^ I thought you guys deserved some well earned Tokka action, so I hope you liked it. I've already begun the next chapter, and as conceited as it is, I'm laughing out loud. I do love awkward moments. Please review!**


	5. The Wedding

**A/N: I think I'm spoiling you people with all this quick updating! I couldn't go to long without the morning after. Warning though, this chapter may be a little more sad panda then any of its predecessors, so don't hate me! I promise it'll get better. Read, review, enjoy!**

Sokka groaned as he woke. He attempted to open his eyes but the bright sunlight pouring through the window forced him to shut them. It was early and he wanted nothing more than to stay in bed and nurse away his headache. His whole body was sore and for the life of him, he couldn't remember why. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, scraping his brain for any inkling of an event that happened the night before.

He remembered drinking, he remembered laughing. He remembered Zuko making fun of him, but that's all that came to mind. Regardless of how early it was, the last thing he wanted to do was deal with Katara if he was late on her wedding day, so he convinced himself to get up.

Sokka began to stretch, his arms above his head and his toes reaching out below him. His feet came in contact with something at the foot of the bed…something that grunted as he kicked it. He shot up, everything rushing back to him.

There laid Toph, wrapped in a cocoon of blankets, at the foot of the bed. Her feet and arms dangling off of it, since it wasn't wide enough to support her spread eagle stance. She faced away from him but he was very aware that she was naked under the sheets.

The color drained from his face as he stared at her. He looked down to his own lap and slowly pulled the blanket up. _Crap. _He cursed to himself as he slammed the sheet back down, covering his own nude body. He fell back down onto the bed, covering his face with his hands. _What the hell did I do last night?_

As he continued to rack his brain, the door flew open.

"Gooooooooood Morning To-ooooooohhhhhhh!" Sokka's hands flew off his face and his eyes widened as he stared at Ty Lee, who stood dumb struck in the door way. "Well hello there!" She giggled at him. "I, uh, I just need Toph here, Katara is looking for her." The acrobat walked over to Toph and shook the blind girl's shoulder, calling her name.

Toph, slowly waking up, swatted at Ty Lee's hand. "Five more minutes, Katara." She began sliding off the bed backwards, her hands firmly gripped to the sheet that was covering Sokka. He fought against her as she crashed to the ground, exposing Sokka.

"Whoa! Okay then." Sokka exclaimed as he yanked the sheet back from Toph, blushing wildly, trying to avoid Ty Lee's shocked gaze. "You two, uh, you guys just go on."

Ty Lee tried to hide her laughter, but was unsuccessful. She rummaged through Toph's bag, trying to find something for the girl to wear, so she didn't present her to Katara wrapped in sheets. She reached for Toph's arm, pulling her up.

"Come on Toph, I'll get you dressed in my room. It's probably best for everyone if we don't tell Katara about this until after the wedding." She shot one more blushing glance at Sokka, and then left, shutting the door behind her.

Sokka collapsed back onto the bed. _Holy shit _he thought to himself. _This is going to be one hell of a day._

**Xoxoxox**

The ceremony was beautiful. Contrary to Katara's incessant worrying, it went flawlessly. Sokka was shocked to see even Zuko and Mai brought to tears.

He tried the entire ceremony to focus on his sister and Aang, but he couldn't help staring the beautiful girl sitting two seats over.

Toph had on one of the most gorgeous dresses Sokka had ever seen. The lush green fabric reflected the golden sunlight with any slight movement she made. If accentuated her curves, and made her pale eyes shine. Her hair was done up similar to how she used to wear it as a girl: a towering bun with defiant bangs drooping into her eyes. A golden headband kept her bun in place, and her face had been subject to make up that he'd only ever seen her wear once before.

She had kept her head down for the majority of the ceremony, no doubt watching with her feet and listening to the sounds around her. Sokka couldn't help but wonder if she was thinking about last night the way that he was. She certainly gave no sign that she even noticed he was there.

He stood now during the reception with his back against a wall, watching everyone dance, mingle and laugh. He didn't know why, but he didn't want to join in on the celebrations. The thoughts of the night before were haunting him…all he wanted to do was talk to Toph.

He had come to the conclusion that she was deliberately avoiding him. Any time he managed to get close to her she'd slip away, or strike up a conversation to the person nearest her. He hated this. It was bad enough when she avoided him after the incident in her tent, but this was different. Something actually happened, this meant something, and she was brushing it off like it was nothing.

Anger boiled inside of him but he suppressed it. Nothing productive was going to come from talking to her if he was angry. He watched her as she walked to the edge of the crowd, and sat down on the edge of the out crop. This was the moment.

He walked over to her, and as he approached her, she notably tensed but didn't flee. He stood next to her, looking down. "Toph we need to talk."

"No, Sokka, we don't." He was taken aback by the use of his name. She continued to stare ahead, unmoving.

He took a deep breath. The last thing he wanted to do was fight with her but he needed to figure out what was going on in her head. "Toph, come on, don't do this, please talk to me." He shot his hands out wide in frustration.

Her head shot in his direction, she was scowling. She got to her feet, and glared at him. "I'm not going to ruin your sister's wedding day by talking to you about whether or not drunken sex meant anything!" She said it in a hush voice, her cheeks flushing with color.

A couple of the Earth King's servants that stood close to them stared. Sokka smiled half-heartedly at them and began to pull Toph away by her arm. She argued with him, but didn't try to reclaim control of her body.

He pulled her around the corner of a hall where they were alone. Knowing they were out of sight, he let her go, and dropped his upset tone and replaced it with a pleading one. "Please, Toph, we need to talk about what happened last night."

He moved to touch her bare shoulder but she swatted it away. "No!" She hissed. "No we don't! There is nothing to talk about. We were drunk, we had sex. That's all there was to it. Can I please go back to the party, or do you have something else to say?"

She was glaring at him, arms crossed. He froze for a moment, trying to think of what it was he did have to say. "But there is more to it…can't you see that? Was it really just a drunken mistake to you?"

She laughed out of frustration. "More to it? Please, you have got to be joking. You're seriously kidding yourself right now. Look at it this way, Sokka. After today, you're going to go back to the South Pole, I'm going to go back to the Earth Kingdom, and it's going to be like none of this ever happened. So yeah, as far as I'm concerned, that's all it was to me."

She turned away from him, her side perpendicular to his body. She hung her head, and faced it away from him.

Her words stung. "Toph, I…I don't know why you're being like this. I thought you had feelings for me. I thought—"

She cut him off. "Had! Had is the key word Sokka. I _had_ feelings for you! When I was _twelve._" She turned back to face him, throwing her hands in the air. "But then you left. You chose that…_girl_ over me and you left. So I got over you. I moved on. You were my best friend, and you tossed me aside like I was nothing. No visits, no letters, nothing." She began to pace, and he just watched her, trying to process it all. "And that was all fine and good. I thought I was okay, until your stupid sister showed up and begged me to come with her to get you. All of a sudden you were back in my life like nothing had ever changed. Except it has. You and I both know it. But you, being a typical man, didn't even consider any of that because you saw me and you were like 'Hey! Toph's grown up! Toph's got tits! Hey, look at Toph's ass!' like it's all of a sudden okay for you to see me as a woman instead of a love sick little girl. Because, really, let's face it, I was never anything more to you than your friend, your comrade. You were selfish, Sokka. You did what was best for you, without ever considering anyone else's feelings, and now you're standing here trying to make me feel bad for what happened last night? Screw you, Sokka."

She turned away from in a huff, leaning her head against the wall that was previously behind her. Sokka was trying to process everything she had said. What could he say to all that? Most of what she said was right. He did notice her for her form, and he was definitely selfish. He had no idea what to say to her.

He stepped forward, touching her arm with his hand. That obviously wasn't the best idea.

"Don't touch me!" She screamed, and shoved him with all her strength away from her. He flew across the hallway, back crashing into the stone behind him. He stared at her, but before he could say anything she began to walk away. "And _don't_ follow me. Tomorrow you'll leave with your Dad and I never want to hear from you again."

She gave him one last glare before she turned and disappeared behind the corner. He let out a deep sigh and collapsed the ground, back sliding down the wall. He pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his forehead on them.

His inner thoughts were fighting with themselves. He fought off the urge to cry, infuriated with himself that this situation had come to the point it was at. He didn't want to never see her again. The moment he say her on Appa, his whole world came back to him. He hadn't felt that happy in years, but he hadn't told her that. He hadn't told her anything. He hadn't told her he was sorry for leaving, or that he never meant to abandon her. This was all his fault.

He leaned his head back against the wall, staring at the vaulted ceiling. _What do I do?_

He heard footsteps drawing closer. He prayed they were Toph's but her steps were much quieter because she wore no shoes. Aang rounded the corner.

"There you are, buddy!" He said, holding out his hand. Sokka took it and allowed the Avatar to help him to his feet. "What are you doing back here?"

"I just needed a quiet moment to myself, there's so many people here." Sokka lied.

"Ah, well, we need you to give your brother and best friend toast so everyone can start eating!" He beamed. "Katara sent me looking for you. She's worse than you are with the scheduling thing these days."

Sokka laughed half-heartedly at his friend's joke. "Well, I'm here, let's get a move on then."

The two men walked back out into the crowd. Sokka was completely distracted, he scanned for Toph, but couldn't seem to find her. He followed Aang up to the make-shift stage, where Katara handed him a drink.

He cleared his throat, trying to remember what he had planned to say. Looking through the crowd again, who was looking at him expectantly, he found her.

Toph stood behind Mai, mostly hidden due to their height difference. She was looking down, arms crossed, but he could see that her face was stained with tears. Ty Lee stood next to her, arm around her shoulders, whispering something to her.

He was obviously lost in thought for much longer than Katara had liked, as she brought him back to reality by elbowing him hard in the side. He cleared his throat again and raised his glass, others followed suit.

But as he opened his mouth to speak, something stopped him, something in the sky, soaring downward at an alarming speed. Others followed his eye line and caught glimpses of what he was looking at. Katara stood. "Is that a…a messenger hawk?"

The bird continued it's decent until it was just feet above the crowds head, at which point it began flying in circles, searching for its intended target. Eventually the bird found rest on Mai's shoulder, and began pecking at her as she tried to remove the letter from its canister.

Everyone stared at the Fire Nation Queen silently as she unrolled it. Sokka stared as her eyes darted across the page.

"What is it?" Her husband asked urgently.

She stared at him a moment before she looked up at the platform where Sokka, Katara and Aang stood.

"Azula…she's escaped."

**A/N: Dun dun dun! And I bet you all thought the wedding was the adventure! *Rubs hands together evilly.* I have lots of fun in store for you all in the coming chapters, which includes a lot less emo Toph, and more good Tokka loving, so please please review and I'll keep cranking it out!**


	6. The Plan

"She WHAT!" Zuko bellowed, shoving his son into Mai's arms and ripping the letter from her hands. Baby Iroh began to cry at his father's sudden rejection, and Mai shushed him. "How it this possible?" His eyes darted up and down the sheet of paper several times.

Sokka and the newlyweds had stepped down off the platform to join the Fire Lord, who reluctantly handed Aang the letter and screamed again in frustration. "I _knew_ I shouldn't have left the palace! This is all my fault!"

"Zuko, don't be a child!" Mai snapped. "Azula wouldn't know whether we were there or not. She was biding her time and it so happens that this was the day she managed to get out. You aren't the only factor in this. We came here for our friends, and you're ruining the day by being selfish!" She was cradling baby Iroh, who was still crying against her shoulder.

Determined to end the useless arguing, Toph spoke before Zuko could. She shoved Sokka roughly aside, causing him to frown at her, and she now stood directly in front of Aang. "What else does the letter say?"

Aang cleared his throat. "It just says she's broken out of her cell. Knocked a few guards out, but no one is dead. The last of the guards saw her heading East towards the shore and that's all. It does say this was written as soon as the alarms sounded, so judging by how fast these creatures fly this couldn't have happened much more than an hour ago."

Katara clung to her new husband's arm with a worried look. "Now isn't the time for weddings. Azula needs to be dealt with, what is the plan?" She looked expectantly between Aang and Zuko. But another answered her.

"Azula will not make it very far very fast over the sea." It was Iroh who spoke. "She is also not much more of a threat than any of the other rebel that is out there right now. She has no friends, no resources, her only companion is anger. I think it's best if we enjoy these small happy moments in life, before we dwell on the misfortunes of others."

Zuko nodded at his uncle. "He's right. I'm sorry for this Katara, Aang. I've only ever wished for you both to have a peaceful day."

The couple both smiled at him and Mai placed her hand on his shoulder. "Let's enjoy this feast, and when it's finished we'll meet and discuss our plans for dealing with my sister."

Katara grabbed Sokka by the hand and said, "Come one, big brother, we could really use a classic Sokka joke to lighten the mood."

Sokka smiled, trying to ignore the very audible scoff that came from the blind girl beside him.

**

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**

Hours later, after the party had begun to die down, Zuko asked a handful of people to meet with him privately. He sat on his bed with Mai, while Aang and Katara sat across from them on some chairs. Iroh stood against the wall behind the couple and Toph and Sokka were both sitting on the floor on opposite sides of the bed.

Toph was the only one who had changed from her party outfit, claiming she wasn't going back after this meeting.

Katara looked offended at her objection to returning to the party. "Toph, I'm sorry I've been so hard on you the last couple days. I've forced you into things you don't normally like for my own selfish reasons."

"I appreciate the apology, Sweetness, but this isn't about you. I changed because I'm going after Azula and I'm not doing it in that outfit." Sokka had to fight back a smirk of the thought of Toph earth bending in that gown, but he had to admit, if anyone could look sexy earth bending, it was her.

Aang stood out of his chair. "No Toph, keeping world peace is my duty, not yours." Katara gently placed her hand on his arm.

"No!" She shot back. "Your only duty right now is to be a husband and a father. You can't leave Katara to go on a wild goose chase. You have someone that is relying on you. Besides, you heard Iroh, she isn't threatening to destroy the world. The only things she wants to destroy are you and Zuko, which is why neither of you should be the ones to get her."

This time it was Zuko who offered an argument. "Toph, you're powerful, I know that, but so is she. Who knows what she's concocted all these years in that prison cell. You're valuable to keeping peace in this world and I won't lose you to my crazy sister."

She was becoming flustered. Getting told she couldn't do things was the most upsetting thing in the world to her. "Excuse me, King Sparky, but how many people have I hunt down for you! Half your prisons are filled with people that I caught, by myself might I add. What do you think you're going to do? Send a swarm of soldier after her? They'd never find her. She's smarter than that! I've worked my ass off for you, Zuko, you can't tell me I can't do this!"

She had gotten to her feet in the process of yelling at him. Mai reached for Toph's hand. "Toph, no one is saying you can't do this. But I don't think it is smart to go after her alone."

Toph opened her mouth to speak again but Iroh stopped her. "Young one, you are very strong. My nephew does not doubt that. But he is right. Azula was powerful before her imprisonment, and I'll be the first to attest to the change one can encounter while locked inside with your own thoughts. This is not a journey, even you, should take alone."

"I'll go." Sokka stood up, saying words he didn't even realize he was saying until after they had come out. Everyone looked at him, including Toph, who looked more shocked than the rest of them. "I'll go with her. We're going to be the last people she's expecting, and this way Aang and Zuko can be protected."

"No." Toph said immediately. Zuko looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Why not? I think that is an excellent idea. Sokka can keep me informed, and I'm positive he's just as skilled at tracking as you." Toph had crossed her arms and stared at the floor as he spoke. The Fire Lord walked to her and put both his hands on her shoulders, leaning close into her he said, "You can't do everything alone, Toph. Don't make me make this an order, please."

Her sightless eyes rose to his and she sighed, lowering her arms in defeat. "Fine. What's the plan then, when do we leave?"

"You can take our airship." Mai said standing. "We can send for another one. Take it to where she was last seen, and track her from there."

Zuko nodded at his wife. "It'd be best if you left as soon as possible, but don't feel rushed. Azula isn't going anywhere that you won't be able to reach her. Until she acts otherwise, treat her as any other assignment I've given you. But please remember, she's deadly."

Toph gave a quick nod. "I'm going to go get my stuff. I'll meet you all out on the overlook to say goodbye." And with that she rushed out of the room.

Sokka stared after her but was quickly distracted by Katara who dove forward and hugged him. "Please be safe." He heard the tears in her voice as he held her tight.

"I think you're the one who needs to be safe." He said smiling. "You're the one who's got something growing inside of them! Gross!" She shoved him playfully, and pulled away, as Aang took her into his own arms.

Zuko stepped forward grabbing Sokka's arm. "I promise I'll keep your sister and the Avatar safe with me. I have faith you and Toph will find Azula before she finds a way back into the Palace grounds. I want you to keep me informed whenever anything happens."

Sokka nodded as Zuko pulled him into a hug. The older boy whispered in his ear, "Toph will come around; she's just confused and stubborn. She's been missing you for so long, she doesn't know what to do now that you're back." Sokka tried to hide his face as it flushed red. "Now go pack, we'll meet you by the airship."

**

* * *

**

After a teary goodbye from everyone except Toph, and a painfully silent airship ride, Sokka brought the vessel down on the shore where the report had told them Azula had last been seen.

Toph rushed from the airship, happy to be back on solid ground. She immediately crouched down, placing both hands flat on the earth, listening. Sokka watched her as she crawled across the earth, feeling for something.

"Do you see anything?" He asked, hoping to understand what she was doing. But all he got in response was a glare. "Come on, Toph, this will be easier if you aren't mad at me." He pleaded.

"No, it'll be easier if you shut up." She snapped, going back to what she was doing. Sokka sat down on the edge of door to the ship as he watched her. After several minutes she finally stood. Without facing him she said, "From what I can tell she was definitely here. I remember her footsteps, and there are subtle traces of them all around. It looks like she stopped here for a while to contemplate where to go."

No matter how much he hated to admit it, she was impressive. He saw no signs of any foot prints anywhere, but he didn't doubt her at all. "Do you think she crossed the water here?"

"It feels like it." She said crouching back down. "From what I can tell, when she finally left she took a running start and jumped. Can she fly or something?"

"She can use her fire bending to propel her off the ground, so I guess technically she could." Sokka shrugged, remembering back to when she attacked them at the Boiling Rock.

Toph scoffed at the thought. "Then I guess we'll have to pick her trail back up on the other side of the sea. How wide is it where we are?"

Sokka felt smug for just a moment. _See you do need my help. _He thought triumphantly but he didn't dare say it out loud.

"It's wide enough to where we should just camp here for the night and get going in the morning."

"Fine with me." She said and began to walk away from him. As he expected he watched her sit, and then form an earth tent, and slammed the door shut.

He sighed. He was hoping that by him offering to accompany her that she would realize that things weren't going back to the way they were before. He hadn't thought about what would happen after the wedding, all he had thought about was how much he wanted her, how much he still wants her.

She was right, they had changed, but he couldn't understand why that was a bad thing. He stared at her earth tent for a long time, wondering what she was thinking about inside her barrier.

**

* * *

**

A couple hours passed and Sokka had made a fire and began to cook some meat. He wanted to offer Toph some food but was worried about being yelled at. He hesitated for a moment outside of her rock door, and then knocked. "Toph, I've got some food here if you want it."

Surprisingly, the door slid down into the ground. She crawled out and took the plate from his outstretched hand, and then walked around him and sat near the fire.

"Can I have a cup?" He looked at her, dumbstruck that she even said anything to him. He didn't reply, just reached into his bag for a cup and handed it to her.

She walked away from him, down towards the water and dipped the cup into it. As she was walking back to him he gave her a strange look and said, "Toph if you want something to drink I've got my canteen here. That's not only salt water, but dirty…it'll kill you."

She glared at him. "No shit, Snoozles." She looked back down at her cup and moved her hand over it, twirling her fingers. He was so lost. Did she somehow learn water bending at not share it with the group? What happened next made his jaw drop. He watched as she took one final flick with her wrist, and all the dirt and salt particles flew into her hand. She tossed the chunk aside and took a sip. She offered it to him smirking.

"Wow! When did you learn to do that?" He was amazed. He'd seen her clean mud before, but that was with Katara's help, and it was always from fresh water.

She shrugged like it was nothing. "It's a lot like metal bending. Salt is earth, and I'm able to isolate those particles from the water and pull them out, similar to how I can isolate the particles of earth in metal to bend it."

He laughed; he couldn't believe how powerful she was. "You are going to continue to surprise me, aren't you?"

She was trying not to smile. She wanted to be mad at him, but she was a sucker for compliments.

They finished their meal in silence, until Toph thanked him for cooking. She began to walk back to her tent but he called after her. "Toph wait! You should, I don't know, just talk to me for a little while."

She sighed. "I'm really not in the mood to get into anything with your right now, Meathead."

"No, I don't want to talk about…that…I just want to talk. I really hate it when you are ignoring me. I know I have no right after ignoring you for so long, but I'm here now, and…I don't know, I just want you to talk to me."

She turned to face him, and stared at him for just a moment. She closed her eyes and looked back towards her tent. "I'm tired Sokka." And with that she walked back into the tent and shut the opening.

He hung his head in defeat and slowly began to clean up. "I missed you too, you know." He whispered, glancing at the tent of earth before he crawled into his sleeping bag and closed his eyes.

**

* * *

**

Inside her earth tent Toph let the tears flow. She hated feeling like this. She wished more than anything none of this had ever happened. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed into them. He was being nothing but nice to her and she was still pushing him away. _What is wrong with me? I just can't take him hurting me again._ Her two sides argued against each other.

"I missed you too, you know."

She felt the vibrations of his voice bounce off the walls of her tent. She sat up, pressing hands and forehead against the door of the tent. "I didn't just miss you, you idiot." She whispered. "I love you…"

She collapsed backwards again, the hot tears streaking her face.

**A/N: Okay so I promised less emo Toph this chapter…so I laid D: It'll get better, I promise! Don't hate me! Well, if you do you should review anyway just so I know! The adventures of Tokka continue in the next chapter so stay tuned! :D**


	7. The Spirit Snatcher

**A/N: Hello readers! Sorry this one took a little longer than normal, I [finally] found an A:TLA RP group to join and I was working on getting established with them this took a back seat for a couple days. Anyway, sorry to keep you waiting, especially after how depressing the last chapter was. Hope this one is a bit better on you :D**

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**

Sokka woke the next morning, sun bright in his eyes. He yawned and stretched, rolling over and laying his arms out to his sides. He began to panic. Something was missing.

He shot up in his sleeping bag patting around the ground for his sword. He couldn't find it anywhere. It had been right there, next to his club and machete. But something moving in the corner of his eye caught his attention.

He watched as Toph, silhouetted by the bright, low morning sun swung his sword in quick, fluid movements. She was attacking an invisible target, quiet and determined. He admired her grace as he watched her move. He'd seen her fight on many occasions, but it was always hard and strong, what was required from earth bending.

He wondered how long she'd been up. He could see she was glistening with sweat, as she sliced through the gut of her imaginary advisory, and plunged the sword into the ground as a sign of victory. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and pulled the sword back out of the ground.

"Enjoying the show, Snoozles?" She jeered at him, without looking. She sheathed his sword and walked over to where he was sitting. She placed the sword in his hand and sat down at the foot of his mat.

He looked at the weapon she had just handed him. The hilt was warm from where she had been gripping it.

"Aren't you going to tell me a blind girl shouldn't be sword fighting?" Toph interrupted his thoughts, smirking at his silence. "I just couldn't fall back asleep when I woke up, so I figured I'd do something fun. I didn't mean to make you freak out."

He laughed at her. "When have I _ever _told you that you shouldn't do something because you're blind? And I wasn't freaking out!" He ended the last sentence with a pout, which caused her to giggle.

"You were too! I could feel you flopping your hands on the ground!" He shoved her shoulder playfully but when he did the smile dropped from her face. She got up off his mat and started walking back to where her earth tent had been and grabbed her bag. "We should get going."

Sokka sighed as he watched her disappear into the airship. He put his face in his hands. _Why is everything I do wrong?_

_**

* * *

**_

They had been in the air for over two hours and they hadn't spoken a word to each other. Sokka was spinning the pilot's chair back and forth out of boredom.

Toph was sitting to the right of the console, her back against it. She was playing with her space earth arm band mindlessly, twisting her hands to form it into random shapes. Every time Sokka pointed the chair at her he would watch her for a moment before swinging away.

Watching her play with the space rock caused him to feel a twinge of longing for his old sword he'd lost during the war. Master Piangdao had since crafted him a new one, but it wasn't the same. Toph's arm band was the last remaining piece of his hard work. But every time he thought about how much he missed his old weapon, he was reminded why he lost it in the first place.

He closed his eyes, thinking back to Toph dangling from his hand. His leg was in incredible pain and she was crying. It pained him to think that if Suki hadn't come back…well…he couldn't even think about it. He opened his eyes again to reassure himself that his friend was still there.

He hated the silence that blanketed them. He missed the old times when they could talk about nothing and laugh about everything. She was the only one that would ever take his side over his sister's and he loved that. He dug in his mind for something to ask her, something to talk to her about.

"So who taught you to sword fight?" Her ears perked in his direction but she made no other acknowledgement that he had spoken.

"Who says anyone taught me?" He knew she was going to be difficult. He humored her.

"You taught yourself?"

"No…Zuko did." She sighed as put the arm band back on.

He felt a twinge of jealousy. He would have loved to have taught her that. "Oh, I guess that makes sense."

She shot a glare at him. "What is that supposed to mean?" She demanded, crossing her arms.

"Nothing bad!" He defended quickly afraid of a fist flying at him. "I'm just assuming he taught you with double sword, right?" She nodded. "I could tell by your form. It's a little different with just one. I could show you."

"No thanks, Meathead, I'd rather not have the ship crash and burn because you're busy showing off instead of driving this thing." She was smirking.

"So, you and Zuko are best friends are something?" He tried to mask the jealousy, but knew he had failed. Somehow, though, it went unnoticed.

She pondered his question for a minute before answering. "I don't know, I've never thought about it that way. We spend a lot of time together whenever I'm there for meetings. We never really talk about things though, so I don't think I'd call him my best friend."

Sokka didn't know why he was so relieved, and he was happy she was talking to him. "So what else did M. Fancy Pants teach you then?"

She scratched her head and looked at him. "Um, well. There was that one time he taught me to swim."

"You can swim now?" The thought relieved him, thinking back to the day they crossed the Serpent's Pass.

"Yea, enough to keep me alive if anything happened. It's never something I'm going to enjoy as a recreational activity like you. I can't see at all…I let him teach me as a survival method more than anything. I'm keeping my feet nice and dry if I can help it."

"Alright, alright I'll settle for you not drowning." He laughed. "What else?"

She began to laugh thinking back on a memory. "He had to teach me to dance once." She laughed even harder as she began to recount the memory. Sokka frowned at the thought of her being held that close by another man. He hadn't gotten to dance with her at the wedding, though he suspected even if she wasn't mad at him she wouldn't have let him anyway.

"Go on!" He urged her.

"Well it was when Mai was pregnant, like, about to pop pregnant. Anyway, there was this reception for all these dignitaries, and it's tradition for the Fire Lord and Lady to open the party by sharing a dance. Well, Mai was cranky for obvious reasons and didn't want to go, so she asked me to do it for her."

"Mai asked you to dance with her husband at a party?" Sokka laughed at the notion. Pregnancy obviously changes a woman. Mai's jealousy regarding Zuko was pretty well known. He shuddered thinking about what Aang was about to go through with his sister.

"Yea, she didn't want to even get out of bed. She said she wanted to just sleep until that 'thing that her jerk of a husband put inside of her' was out." She laughed hard again, putting air quotes up when imitating Mai's angry voice. "He made a smart choice when he hid her knives from her once she started showing."

"Yea, there's no way I'd deal with a pregnant woman that's skilled in stabbing people." Sokka laughed with Toph. The sounds of their laughter mixing together made his heart swell. He missed this.

"So yea, we spent all night the day before the party trying to teach me the proper dance for the opening. I got it eventually, but man it was pretty awkward dancing with him in front of all those people."

Sokka smiled. "So did he teach you anything useful?"

She smirked at him. "Swimming isn't useful? Swords aren't useful?"

"Okay they are, but it seems like he's your favorite Sifu now, I just thought I'd find out what other wisdom he's imparted on you." He bowed to her mockingly, and received a swift punch in the leg in return.

"Well, he taught me to write and read." She paused for a moment. "Well sort of…that's useful right?"

"What do you mean?"

"He drew words in the dirt so I could see them, and then taught me how to write them myself. I don't really know a whole lot just some names and a few words."

He watched her as she traced her finger on the metal floor in front of her, writing out her name. He got down off his chair and kneeled next to her. He hesitantly took her hand into his. When she didn't object, he moved her hand with his, slowly so that she could take in the movements.

"I know it's just on metal." He said quietly, looking at her hopefully. "But did you see it?"

She swallowed and nodded, a blush creeping up her cheeks. "What was it?"

"Sokka." He said, and she turned her head to face him. He wished he could tell what she was thinking. It was always so hard to read her. Even more so when her lips her inches from her, bringing back sweet memories of what it felt like to kiss her. Her hand was still in his, and she was looking at him. It gave him chills the way she was able to hold eye contact with him without being able to see. What was even worse was that he knew she could feel his accelerated heart beat. It was impossible to hide anything from her.

"Toph…I…" Her eyes lowered as he spoke. He didn't know what he wanted to say. _Toph I'm sorry. Toph I want you to know how much you mean to me. Toph I don't know why I lived this long without out._

But nothing came out. A loud beeping noise on the console above them startled them both. Toph quickly retracted her hand from his and crossed her arms, leaning away from him.

Angry at the ruined moment he sighed and stood to see what was going on. He saw land in the horizon, and the auto pilot was alerting their proximity.

"Are we almost there?" Toph asked him, still looking at the ground.

"Yea I'm going to start bringing her down should be about fifteen minutes or so." He watched her as she grabbed her bag and disappeared into the back room of the small airship. He didn't bother asking what she was doing he knew she wouldn't respond.

Sokka brought the ship delicately to the ground and began to shut everything down. He quickly jotted down a letter to Zuko, telling him where he could retrieve the ship since they were going to be moving on foot from now on. The hawk flew away as Sokka opened the door to the ship, and Toph re-emerged from the back room.

She had changed her clothes. She'd replaced her loose fitting green pants and yellow tunic for tight black leggings and a wrapped shirt. She had wrapped her arms from her knuckles to her elbows, and was in the process of braiding her hair. Her sack was slung over her shoulders, and there was a mask tied around her neck.

He stared at her with a raised eyebrow. "What are you wearing?" He asked with a smirk. "Just because you call yourself the blind bandit doesn't mean you have to dress like one."

She rolled his eyes at him. "Don't be an idiot. The easiest way to track someone is if they don't know who's tracking them. I've been doing this for a long time, don't question me. Don't forget I didn't even want you here in the first place."

She walked passed him out into the sunlight. She began to feel the ground, similar to the way she had the day before. Sokka had to coax himself not to stare at her body; the tightness of her new outfit was making him sweat a little. Her curves were displayed much more prominently then they ever were in the dresses he had seen her in. _This is going to be a rough trip._

"She was here, well over there really." She pointed north down the beach. "There's a town not too far from here, it feels like she went that way. My guess is she was looking for new clothes, and probably some food. We'll start there and ask around, and we're going to have to get you something better to wear."

He scoffed at her as she pulled the mask up over her face. Only her eyes were visible now, though just barely behind her unruly bangs that fell in front of them. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"Did you not listen to what I said, stupid? The second Azula hears there's some guy dressed in blue with a boomerang is following her, she's going to know exactly who it is, and it's going to put us in danger. We'll lose the upper hand. I have yet to fail at a mission like this and I'm not going to start now just because you're here." She turned heel on him and began to walk in the direction of the town.

He ran forward and grabbed her arm, pulling her around. He didn't know why he was getting so angry; he should be used to her bossing him around. He didn't want to be a tag along on this mission. "I wasn't questioning you, but you don't have to be such a bitch about it. You may be used to doing this solo but you're not now, and it's going to make things a lot easier if you just try to get along with me."

Her eyes were narrow slits behind her hair. "Then maybe you could start by not calling me names." She hissed at him, stepping closer to him. She had an odd way of looking down her nose at him while standing well under his chin.

"You're right. I'm sorry." He closed his eyes, hoping she would accept his sincerity.

"You don't hear many rumors back home, do you?" She asked putting her hands on her hips.

He didn't understand what she was asking. "What does that have to do with anything?" He asked, frustration coming back to him.

"I've been doing this for a long time now, Snoozles. The very first people Zuko sent me to capture were with someone else. This guy saw my face, and was able to warn their other partners who I was. They saw me earth bend. They were totally prepared for me when I went back the second time to get the rest of them. It was foolish, and stupid. Since then, anytime I've been sent to capture someone, I dress like this." She waved her hands up and down.

"I've created this persona, this disguise so that I'm able to be more stealthy, and careful. No one knows who I am, I use earth bending as little as I can, or in subtle ways that it goes unnoticed. The easiest way to catch someone is if they don't know who's coming for them, or better, they fear who is coming."

He studied her as she finished talking. She pulled the bag on her back in front of her and pulled a long dark cloak from it, before throwing it back over her shoulder. "Okay, but I don't get what that has to do with rumors getting to the South Pole."

"Okay, has anyone in your village ever talked about the Spirit Snatcher?" She was throwing the cloak behind her back and fastening it., sounding annoyed with him.

He thought about it. "Actually, yea they do now that I think about it. Some of the older teens would tell the little kids about this spirit that comes in the night and takes away people with ill-mannered intentions." He was scratching his chin, trying to remember the story. He laughed and said, "They told the kids Zuko had traded part of his soul to the spirit of death, so that it would come and take away those who fought against his peace plan. But what does that have to do with anything?"

Toph smacked her forehead with her hand and then waved her hands up and down gesturing to herself. He shook his head, still confused.

"You're so thick, you stupid knucklehead!" She said, punching him hard in the arm. "It's me, stupid! I'm the Spirit Snatcher!"

"Ow! Hey that hu-wait you're what?" She sighed again. "Oh! I understand now. Geez Toph, how many nick names do you need?" He laughed as he dodged another jab from her. He could tell she was smiling behind her mask. "Ahh! And you want me to be your side kick! And get me an outfit! And the world shall fear the ground we walk on!" He threw his hand triumphantly in the air and began marching towards the town.

The blind girl followed his lead, and pulled the deep hood of her cloak up over her head and it dropped down her face, putting her eyes into further darkness. "At least you recognize that _you're _the side character in this little story. Come on, Snoozles; let's get out of that dork costume you're in and into some man clothes."

"You can't even see what I'm wearing!" He shouted throwing his hands in the air again.

"I don't need to see it to know you look like a dork."

He shoved her lightly and she laughed. "Whatever, Blind-Spirit-Melonlord-Bandit-Runaway-Snatcher Girl. Let's go!"

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**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry it's a little slow plot wise, but these two needed to get their weirdness all shaken out, so it's a little more fluffy than I had originally intended. Don't hold it against me! Please PLEASE review, I need to know someone is still entertained by these two as much as I am ^_^ **

**More Tokka fun-time to come in the near future, review and stay tuned!**


	8. The Nightmare

**A/N: Sorry it this took so long everyone, but here you are. The Tokka adventures continue…I don't have much to say about this chapter besides that it's my personal favorite so far **** Anyhoo…sorry for the wait and I hope you enjoy ^_^

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The Snatcher and her 'minion' (as she had taken to calling Sokka, much to his dismay) spent the majority of the afternoon stocking up on travelling supplies and talking to the townspeople.

Whispers followed them as they walked down the streets. Toph's cloaked and masked appearance was clearly making the townsfolk nervous. Even though the war was long since passed, people were still generally very wary of strangers.

As they approached a meat vendor, Sokka's stomach grumbled loudly. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until the delicious smells of the butchered animals entered his nostrils. "Mmmmm…" He let out a small moan as he rubbed his belly, but Toph ignored his blatant desire to eat and began questioning the vendor about Azula.

"I know exactly who you're looking for! She was here just this morning!" The vendor exclaimed, throwing his arms frustratingly into the air. "That wicked woman shoved me down and kicked me, and then she stole two whole bundles of my jerky!" He pointed at the dried meat hanging from the front of his cart, Sokka began to drool.

"Did you see which direction she went?" Toph asked, elbowing Sokka hard in the side as he reached for the jerky. He let out a small yelp and glared at her, but she ignored him, waiting for the man's reply.

"She stumbled that way." The vendor was pointing down the road that headed east. "I saw her disappear behind that far building down there. She ran so fast she was gone before I could even stand up!"

"Thanks." The blind girl handed the vendor a small pouch of money. "We'll take this bundle here." She pointed, and the motioned to Sokka to take it. He eagerly took the wrapped meat and put it into his pack.

"Is there a clothing store in this town?" Toph asked the merchant who was counting out her coins.

"Two buildings up, on your left, Madam Tao's." He spoke without looking at the two and they began to walk away. When he noticed their absence he yelled after them. "Wait! Miss! You've given me over double what that costs!"

Sokka paused and looked back, but Toph kept walking. She called over her shoulder, "The rest is for your trouble and your help." Sokka watched as the man bowed deeply, and tucked the pouch into his vest.

"Well that was uncharacteristically nice of you." Sokka said raising an eyebrow.

She shrugged. "It's Zuko's money." There was a smirk in her eyes. Sokka wished she hadn't had the mask on so he could see her lips curl into that devious smile, but he quickly pushed it out of his head.

They entered the dimly lit clothing shop, and Sokka rubbed his eyes, hoping to help them adjust.

"Look for something you can change into, Snoozles, I'm going to talk to the shop keeper." She said as she disappeared behind a rack of elegant robes.

Sokka began looking at the various outfits that hung along the wall. His eyes followed the wall until they fell upon a simple black tunic. As he inspected it closer, he was reminded of the tunic he wore while training with Master Piandao, but this one was missing any kind of trim or elegance. It wrapped together similar to the one he was currently wearing.

He grabbed the attention of the nearest assistant and requested to try it on. When he was finished dressing he stepped out of the changing room to find Toph leaning against the wall looking bored.

"Find something worthy of your dainty form, princess?" She jeered. He ignored her jab and spun in place, showing off the outfit.

"What do you think?" She responded to him with nothing more than a cocked head and a death glare that would stop a charging moose-lion in its tracks. "Oh…right." He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. He didn't know why he always forgot she was blind. "Well I still need a mask. How'd it go with the shop keeper?"

Toph pushed herself off the wall with her foot. "They didn't see her. If Azula stole any clothes she didn't take them from here."

Together they walked to pay for Sokka's new outfit. He grabbed a black face-wrap of a display head near the counter, and handed it to the shop keeper.

She woman blushed as Sokka smiled at her. "That outfit suits you." She said as she began totaling his purchase. "Can I get you anything else?" She winked at him and Toph immediately sent her a venomous glar.

"We ain't got all day lady, let's move it." The shop keeper looked at the masked girl and nodded, looking slightly hurt.

Sokka swung his pack around to get his money, in the process exposing his sword to the woman behind the counter. "Is that a _real_ Piandao?" She asked a hint of awe in her voice. "That must have cost you a fortune!"

He shrugged as he handed her the proper coinage. "Actually it didn't cost me anything; he gave it to me after I lost my original sword in the war. He was my Sifu."

The woman's eyes widened. "Wow…a war hero _and _a student of the finest swordsman in the world." She smiled brightly at him. "You've got yourself quite the catch." She finished with a wink at Toph.

The bender rolled her eyes and stared at Sokka. "Are you finished yet?" Worried about angering her further, Sokka simply nodded. She then grabbed his arm, hard, and yanked him away from the admiring keeper towards the doorway.

"It was nice meeting you!" The woman called after them as they disappeared out into the street, illuminated with bright colors from the setting sun.

Once outside, Sokka squinted as he tied the wrap over his face, tying it behind his head. Once it was secured he pulled it down to his neck. "I don't know how you wear this thing all day." He stated looking at the girl to his side. "It's annoying to talk with it on."

"You know there is an easy solution to that, Snoozles." She laughed at her own joke. "But you and I both know you're incapable of keeping your jabber jaw shut."

"Hey, now!" He smiled, looking at her affectionately. "Don't even pretend that you don't _love_ the sound of my sultry, manly voice."

The comment was met with a hard (and expected) punch to the arm.

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They had been walking for hours. The sun had set long ago, but Toph was determined to carry on, to attempt to close the gap between them and the ex-princess.

Between the two, tracking Azula proved to be shokingly easy. Toph would, from time to time, felt the grounding, searching for the woman's footprints while Sokka looked for and followed scorch marks that appeared on trees and bushes. What she was fire bending at was beyond him. All he knew was that for an escaped convict, enemy to the world, she was making it incredibly easy to follow her.

He came to a halt as Toph knelt on the ground in front of him, palm flat to the dirt. He glanced at the moon as she concentrated. Eight years had come and gone since Yue's sacrifice, but her loss still pained him as much as it had the first few days of her loss. But the gentle glow she cast down on them gave him great comfort that someone was watching them, keeping them safe.

Whether it was thinking about his lost love, or the fact that they were no longer moving, Sokka became completely overwhelmed with exhaustion. He yawned loudly, stretching his hands high above his head. We should really consider making camp for the night." He said to the earth bender, still crouched on the ground. She was looking out into the distance.

She stood up, shaking her head, eyes focused forward. Sokka stepped forward closing the distance between them and placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "We've covered a lot of ground today Toph. She has to sleep too. We'll get her."

She glanced over her shoulder, and he could see the profile of her face silhouetted by the moonlight, her pace skin glowing at the edges. She didn't say anything, she simply nodded.

Sokka gratefully pulled his pack off his shoulders and rubbed them as the bag flopped to the ground. He sighed at the release of the weight and twisted back and forth, stretching his muscles.

Toph had already laid down her mat and had pulled off her cloak, folding it to use as a pillow. She pulled off her mask and began to unbraid her hair. Sokka silently watched her as he unrolled his sleeping bag and placed it close to hers. Her long hair was as dark as the sky above them, and it was glistening, reflecting the moon's light as she combed her small fingers through it.

Her eyes were closed, and her face was soft, enjoying the feeling of her hair hanging freely. Sokka unwrapped his tunic and placed it on top of his pack. The humid air brushed over his bare chest as a gust of wind flew by. He sniffed the air. "I think it's going to rain." He said as he sat down on his mat, crossing his legs. "Do you think you could make us a tent?"

When he looked at Toph, he saw she was lying on her back. She had her back arched, her hips lifted, reaching for the sky. Her hands were over her head, palms upward. Sokka stared at her studying her form in the dim light. He had a _very _vivid memory of her in a very similar position only a few nights ago. His face flushed with color at the thought. He quickly glanced away from her, trying to suppress the memory and praying that she couldn't feel his heart beat through the thick sleeping mat. If she did, she chose not to say anything.

She sighed, lowering her body back to the ground. "Why do I _always_ have to do everything?" She said it with a smirk on her face. She slammed her fists down hard on the ground beside her and then arched them over her head. The earth on either side of the pair lurched upwards, forming a peak between them. She kicked her foot, and one side closed up, leaving the other end open. "For your bathroom breaks or moon visits." She said casually tucking her hands under her head.

He couldn't help himself from laughing. "Moon visits? What?"

She turned her head to face him, and propped herself up on her elbows. "Back during the war, you would always wake up and talk to the moon. When I asked Katara about it she said that it was a water tribe custom to visit with the moon." She lay back down.

Sokka blushed hard, internally thanking his sister for not telling the girl the truth. "Right. Well, thanks. Good night, Toph." He laid his back down onto the mat, but was still looking at her. She said nothing, and rolled over, facing away from him. He wasn't sure how long he stared at the girl's back, watching her breathe before he too drifted off to sleep.

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A loud clap of thunder roared through the night sky and jerked Sokka out of his sleep. His eyes snapped open and it took just a moment for him to come to and realize what was going on. The rain from above was pounding on the top of their shelter like a group of stampeding rhino-dillos how Toph was still asleep was beyond him.

He rubbed his eyes as a flash of lighting briefly illuminated their tent. Toph had turned in her sleep and was now facing him. As the lightning flashed he had seen her face and it was twisted in what was either pain, or fear. Her brows were furrowed deep, nose scrunched, mouth frowning. He waited anxiously for the next flash of light so he could see her more clearly.

He quietly crawled closer to her as the thunder crashed menacingly over his head. He kneeled near her waist, facing her, trying to inspect her closer. The long awaited lightning flashed again and this time Sokka could see the trails of hot tears glistening on her cheeks. He began to panic. _What was causing her to cry in her sleep?_

He leaned forward and placed a hand on her wrist. As if the contact triggered something inside her mind, he just barely heard the girl whisper over the pounding rain. "Aye, aye captain…" A fresh tear fell from her eyes as she said it. He tightened his grip on her wrist and brought his other hand to her shoulder, shaking it, trying to wake her.

"Please don't let go…" She was talking louder now. He shook her harder, calling her name. He didn't know what was wrong but he wanted to wake her up so she would stop crying. "Sokka please don't let go…" Sokka froze as she spoke his name. _What is going on?_

He shook her to the point of causing pain. The thunder roared once again and Toph shot up, her body crashing into Sokka's. He was still holding her wrist as her eyes looked into his. His hand drifted from her shoulder up to her cheek and he stroked it gently with his thumb, wiping the tears away. "What's wrong?"

Sokka didn't expect what happened next. Toph threw her face against his shoulder, grabbing his arms with her small hands squeezing them, and sobbed hard. Her tears flowed down his chest, her body shaking. He pulled her in close, holding her tightly, running his hand through her hair. He rested his cheek on the top of her head.

He wasn't sure how long they had sat like that before she had ceased crying. He still held her, not wanting to let go, wanting to comfort her, wanting….her. Toph moved her hands to his chest and softly pushed herself away from him. Her hands fell to her lap and she stared at them. Sokka began to withdraw his hands from her but as he did she asked, "Do you ever dream about it? About the war? About when…" Her voice trailed off as tears welled up again her eyes.

His mind again flashed back to a small blind girl, her life hanging from his hands. _She still had nightmares about this? _ Sokka stared at her, watching as she tried to fight off more tears. His hand moved on top of hers on its own accord. Her fingers snaked in between his, and she looked back at him, blank eyes staring expectantly into his.

The truth was, he had. Less often now, but he spent many nights following the war, waking up in a sweat having lost grip of Toph's hand before Suki ever made it to them. He squeezed her hand. "Yes." He said in a faint whisper. "All the time."

The blind girl sighed, as though letting out all of the troubles in her mind. She leaned forward again, placing her forehead on chest. "Thank you." She breathed.

He smiled. "Don't." He wrapped his arms around her again and laid her back down onto her mat. Toph rolled back onto her side, still encased by Sokka's arms. When he moved to get up her hand quickly grabbed his arm. She didn't say anything, she didn't pull him down, but she didn't have to. He laid down behind her, pulling her in close to him, enjoying the way the curves of her body fit perfectly to his. The stormed had died down to a soft rain fall, and the rhythm of the patters on the roof of the tent were lulling Sokka back to sleep. Breathing in the smell of Toph's hair, the smell of dirt mixed with whatever scent Katara had forced her to wash her hair with caused him to smile as he drifted back to sleep.

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**A/N: Please review so I'm reassured I haven't gone to sappy :3 Or you know…just say hi ^_^ Hope you all enjoyed, next chapter out as soon as I can!**


	9. The Encounter

**A/N: Here's the next chapter everyone! A little bit of action in this one…so please enjoy!

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Sokka woke slowly as he felt something squirming under him. The sleepy warrior raised his arm to rub his eyes, and Toph shot out from underneath of him, causing him to thump to the ground from the lack of support. The ground around him swallowed the earth tent that had protected them from the previous night's storm, and bright sunlight bathed over him.

"Sheesh, Toph, do you have to wake up in such a huff?" He was half smirking, knowing that she was feeling exposed after what she had shared with him the night before.

The blind girl threw Sokka's tunic at him, and it hit him in the face. "Get ready, I want to get going." He smiled at her; he couldn't help but think of how adorable she looked all worked up. He watched her as she began packing up her things, but he didn't get dressed as she had instructed.

Sokka sat quietly; the feeling of the small girl sleeping in his arms was still alive inside him. It had been the best sleep he had gotten in a long time, even though it had only been a few hours. If it wasn't for the damp tree leaves above his head he would have never thought such a torrential rain had occurred the night before. He laughed inside his head at the similarity between the storm and Toph's soft side. Both tried to leave no sign that they had ever existed, but there were little signs that gave them away.

He chose not to push the matter with her, he had come to terms with the fact that the girl only shared with him when she felt she had to. She had finished packing her bag and turned to give Sokka a deadly glare. "Why are you just sitting there staring at me?" She snapped at him.

He shrugged and smiled. "No reason." He continued to look at her, and she grew visibly more frustrated. She stomped over to him and leaned down close to his face. The wild hairs on her bangs were tickling his nose, which only caused him to laugh.

"Listen, I don't want you holding last night over my head." She jabbed him hard in the chest. "Can we just forget it happened and get going please? We have a psycho-bitch to catch up with and we aren't going to do it with you making fun of my weakness."

Her faced was flushed with color, she was clearly embarrassed. He reached out to touch her cheek with his hand. "Toph, that isn't a weakn—" he began but she cut him off, grabbing his hand and pulling it off her face.

"Just get dressed will you?" She began walking away from him. "There's a creek over that hill I'm going to go wash myself. Do NOT follow me."

"What if I need to wash too?" He asked, egging her on, knowing what she was implying.

Still walking she called back. "Then you can wait until I'm done I don't want you to see me like that."

He laughed to himself looking down, blushing. "Why not? It's not like I haven't seen it before."

It was barely a whisper, not intending to hear it, but she did. She shot around, glaring at him. Before he realized what had happened she dove on him, knocking him backward hard onto the ground and was pummeling him with fists. "You're an ass, Ponytail!"

Sokka was laughing, trying to block her blows with his hands. "Calm down!" He said in between spurts of laughter. "I'm just kidding around with you!" His words fueled her anger and she began to punch harder, landing one or two significantly hard punches to his chest. Eventually he was able to grab hold of her flail wrists. He pushed her off him and rolled on top of her, pinning her arms to the ground. She bucked under him trying to throw him off but his weight held her down. "Will you relax?" he whispered to her quietly.

Toph became still underneath him, but her face still showed signs of absolute hatred. His lips were close to hers, and he was fighting off temptation. As if she read his mind she turned her head away from him, still scowling. He sighed and slid off her, kneeling near her feet. He rubbed the back of his neck as she slowly pushed herself up off the ground. "Why do you keep treating me like a piece of scum whenever I try to compliment you or say something nice?"

She turned to face away from him, thinking what to say. Silence fell between them like a layer of soft snow. Unfortunately, Sokka was between her and the creek so she had to turn around to face him. She quietly walked past him and he didn't object to her leaving. When he let out a heavy sigh and stood up, Toph stopped walking. She peeked over her shoulder and quietly said, "I…I can't deal with this right now, Sokka. I need to focus on getting this mission done." She walked away, disappearing between trees.

He didn't know why that infuriated him so much. _Deal with what? _ He asked himself as he wrapped the tunic around himself and began to pack up. _Since the minute she came back I've been nothing but nice to her and this is how she treats me?_ The more he thought, the angrier he got. He was shoving things into his pack with such force that his weapons on the ground were trembling with each push. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts he didn't hear Toph return.

Her head was tilted in his direction as she picked up her bag. "What's your problem? Did that bag kill your wolf-lion when you were a child?"

He shot a glare at her, fuming. He stood up, throwing his pack behind him and strapped his various weapons on. She began to stare at him in the meantime, confused at his silence. He tied the mask over his face and turned from her, beginning to follow the path they had been on the night before.

"Hey!" She called after him, beginning to follow him, dropping her bag. She shoved the back of his shoulder causing him to stumble forward. "I asked you a question!" Her face was twisted with anger at the unexpected silent treatment.

Sokka whipped around on his heels, resisting the urge to shove her back. "No, you didn't!" He raised his voice at her, anger rising in his chest as the words came out. "You _bitched. _ That's all you've done since I've seen you. You treat me like shit and I'm absolutely sick of it! I was so incredibly happy when I saw you again; it was like the sun was finally rising again for me, like I had something back that was missing, but it's been just the opposite of that. And then when we…" He shook his head, trying to push the thought of her from his mind. "Just…never mind. Forget it. That meant _nothing _to you and you've been a bitch since it happened. I came with you on this trip to help you, to prove to you that I'm not some asshole that ditched you, but you've been at my throat since we've left. You're a bitch, Toph, and I just want to find Azula and get this over with so I can go home."

He paused for a moment, trying to catch his breath. Toph looked like she had seen a ghost. Her face was pale and her eyes were wide, her mouth hanging slightly open. Pools of tears began forming in her eyes and the anger he had been feeling melted away almost instantly into guilt. She turned from him, walking back to where the pack had been left abandoned and pulled it on. Facing away from him still, she tied her mask on, and she wiped away tears.

When she turned around again and began storming towards him. "Toph I—" He stopped talking when she collided her shoulder into his chest, knocking him a little bit off balance and blowing past him, walking away. _Stupid…_ he thought to himself. _I'm such an idiot._

**

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**

While they walked, and tracked, Sokka kept his distance from Toph. She walked a few yards ahead of him, refusing to look at him or speak to him. Any questions he asked were either ignored or answered with a nod or a headshake. She refused to eat mid day when he tried to hand her some dried meat.

The sun was almost setting now and Sokka couldn't even describe how guilty he felt for the things he had said to her. But there was no changing it now. Regardless of how long she had been gone from his life, he did know her, and he knew she wasn't going to move passed something like this very easily.

She paused in front of him holding her hand behind her signaling for him to stop. She turned her head and he saw she had a finger over her mask where her lips were. He walked closer to her, leaning down to her height, his eyes trying to follow what her ears were pointing to.

There was a clearing just beyond the tree Toph was standing behind. Sokka's eyes scanned the grassy field searching, listening, until his eyes came to rest on two figures on the opposite side of the opening. Sokka squinted through the sunlight. There was Azula, ragged, hair flowing in the wind, pinning a man to a tree. He could hear her yelling at the man, but the words were muffled.

The warrior looked to Toph, who for the first time this morning, spoke. "Stay behind the trees, go that way, I'll go this way. If we circle her quietly enough we can ambush her before she sees us. I'll push up a rock near you when the moment is right, that'll be the signal." She explained in a quiet whisper, and after he nodded in acknowledgement she darted through the trees.

Sokka went the opposite direction, following the perimeter of the trees enclosing the field. The closer he got, he was able to make out what the princess was saying. She was questioning the man about his town, about whether he had heard anything about her. His eyes were fixed on the pair, ready to jump at any movement they made.

He stopped when he was close enough to see Toph lurking behind a tree across from him. As she mentioned, a small stone overturned near his foot, but before he could leap into action, Azula shot a fire blast in his direction. Sokka dove out of its way, rolling onto the ground away from the charred foliage.

Toph leapt out into the opening while Azula's eyes were focused on where Sokka had just been. Knives shot from her arm as she ran towards the princess. Sokka had never noticed her carrying knives, but he assumed it's just something else she learned from spending time with Mai and Zuko.

Azula dropped the bloodied man, to dodge the barrage of weapons. He slumped to the ground as his captor dove towards Toph, colliding with her. They both toppled to the ground, rolling in the dirt. Sokka leapt to help her but before he reached her, she had ejected Azula off of her, the princess colliding with a tree.

Toph stood in a fighting stance, panting hard, and knives inching out of her sleeves. Sokka stood, behind her, looking between his companion and their enemy, waiting for someone to move.

"So," Azula began, pulling herself up, still leaning against the tree. "I was wondering how long it would take for Zuzu's little minions to find me." She smirked. "I won't lie, I expected someone more powerful than two useless people who can't bend."

Sokka began to lurch forward but Toph held up her hand, eyes still fixed where Azula was standing. "Then again," the princess continued "I've been hearing stories that the 'spirit snatcher' will get me for my _evil_ actions. Is that supposed to be you, little girl? Because I have to say, I'm _not _impressed."

Toph said nothing. Her fists clenched, pushing the knives back up into her sleeves. _Don't do it. _ Sokka thought at her. _Don't let her push you…_

Before he could stop her Toph's arms flung outwards and then pulled down hard. The earth behind Azula upturned, causing her to turn and roll to her side to avoid the collapse of it on her. She smirked, eyes glinting.

"So you _can_ bend, little witch." She laughed as Toph answered her with a growl, fists still clenching. Azula continued to taunt her. "What about your boyfriend?" Her eyes drifted to Sokka, whose hand was clenching the sword on his back. "Hmm…I guess not." She said as she watched him slowly pull the sword out. "Shame." Her eyebrows furled together as she pointed at him with two menacing fingers.

The next few seconds moved in slow motion in Sokka's mind. Azula smirked, pulling her hand back and thrust it forward in Sokka's direction. A blast of white hot flames shot from her hands and her face twisted into hatred. Sokka eyes widened and then came crashing shut scared for the inevitable strike of flames.

But it didn't come. He was on the ground, his chest throbbing from a hard crushing blow. He slowly pulled himself up, opening his eyes and rubbing his chest. His head throbbed from where it had hit the ground. Azula walked into his eyeline, hovering over him. She shoved her face into his chest, pushing him back to the ground.

She smirked at him. "Let this be a message to my beloved brother. He will _never _have me back in his scrawny little hands. I will destroy the Avatar." She pushed her foot down even harder, before reclaiming it. She turned and ran, laughing. Sokka struggled to stand up to follower her but as he did, he saw what had transpirired.

The man who Azula had been attacking was leaning over Toph, one hand on his bloody arm, the other on Toph. He was trying to speak to her, shaking her slightly, but she didn't move. Sokka bolted to her side, accidentally knocking the man out of the way in his haste.

He studied her, eyes welling with tears. "Toph?" He whispered, brushing the hair out of her eyes, pulling her mask down. The tears fell down his face, but he didn't care. They moved down her body and saw the giant burn that had engulfed her entire right shoulder and arm. He touched it as delicately as he could, blood staining his fingers.

His gaze moved from the unconscious girl to the man who was sitting beside him, struck with both fear and concern. "Is your village far from here?" The man shook his head. "Take me there." Sokka's voice was solemn as he gently scooped Toph into his arms.

She was limp, her head leaning forward against his chest, her injured arm dangling to the side. The injured man silently stood and motioned for Sokka to follow.

As Sokka carried Toph through the forest to the village, he prayed there would be a healer there. This was entirely all his fault. He hadn't been prepared, he wasn't ready. After all the things he said to her this morning, after how cruel he was, she jumped in front of fire for him. She saved his life after he had ripped her apart. He fought back his tears as they rounded the bend.

**

* * *

**

Sokka sat in a chair in the corner of the healer's hut. He was leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees. Hours had passed since he'd brought Toph here, but the healer was still working on her arm and shoulder.

Once the blood had been cleared away, he was able to see how bad the burn was. Blisters had formed down the length of her arm, which was red like the setting sun. The healer was sitting on the edge of Toph's bed, partially blocking Sokka's view. She was delicately wrapping the wounds with clean linens.

"Are you finished?" Sokka asked his voice husky from not speaking for so long. "Will she be okay?"

The young woman sighed, continuing to wrap the small girl's arm. "It's all I can do for right now. The burns are too great, she needs some rest and I can heal more in the morning. She sure is a fighter though." She smiled softly at Sokka who simply nodded.

"You should get some rest, she won't wake. She's in too much pain." When Sokka shook his head, the woman crossed the room and placed a hand on his shoulder. "How about something to eat, you must be starving."

Sokka's stomach churned at the mention of food. He nodded at her and gave her a half-hearted smile. She turned from him and began bustling around, putting a plate together for him. "You look just like your father." She said smiling over her shoulder.

Sokka was taken aback. "What?"

"Your father is Chief Hakoda, right? You look exactly like him. I don't recall your name though…" She looked at him over her shoulder.

"Sokka."

"I'm Kolana." She smiled again going back to her preparation.

"How do you know my dad?" The warrior asked leaning back in his chair.

She laughed. "I thought it was obvious that I was from the North Pole, you know the healing and all. I used to be a royal healer for Chief Arnook, I saw your father often when he was in on visits. He was actually who inspired me to leave home and help in the recovery effort. Since the war ended I've been travelling though earth kingdom towns that have needed healers. I've been here for almost a year now."

She handed him a plate of meat and bread and a glass of water. He nodded in thanks. "I'll check in again in the morning, you should try to get some rest, you can use the bed next to her. If anything happens, I'll be in that room there." She pointed at the closed door. "Good night, Sokka."

She smiled warmly before disappearing behind the door. Sokka quietly ate his food, staring at the blind girl. When he finished eating, he crawled into the bed next to Toph and covered himself with the blanket. He reached across to her, touching her hand with his. His eyes began to tear as he looked at her still face.

"I'm sorry…"

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**A/N: Eeeee! I'm so mean :3 I hope you all enjoyed, I've got fun plans in the next few chapters, so please keep the input coming so I know you're enjoying it! 3**


	10. The Visitor

**A/N: First off, I'm sorry it has taken me so long to update. I really appreciate all of you who have reviewed and sent messages, they have been incredibly encouraging. Here is the next chapter, I hope you all enjoy!**

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Sokka couldn't sleep. He didn't even try, he knew it was worthless. He didn't know how long he had been watching Toph lay there breathing slowly, her chest rhythmically moving up and down, her breath slightly strained from her injury. He sighed, rubbing his face for a moment before pushing himself up off the cot. After having a long mental debate with himself, he ultimately decided he needed to inform Zuko of what had happened earlier that day.

He quietly rummaged through his bag for some paper and ink. He wouldn't be able to send the post until the morning but he needed to kill time. He sat down at the desk and dabbed the brush in the ink and then paused, taking a deep breath. Writing this letter would be harder than he had thought it would be. Every time he began a sentence, he looked back over his shoulder at the small girl in the bed beside him, and it caused his stomach to knot.

His mind flashed from the horrible things he had said to her to her laying limp, burnt, unconscious on the ground. His eyes slammed shut as the vision of cackling golden eyes flooded his thoughts. The brush in his hand snapped as he clenched his fist and he swore quietly to himself. The destroyed utensil had left a splotch of ink on the bottom of the letter that was more or less finished, so he rolled it up, sealed it, and gently placed it on top of his pack.

There was one lone candle that had yet to burn out and it was on the small table that was next to Toph's head. It flickered in the light, cool breeze that came through the large open window of the healer's hut, and the light danced over the girl's face, shadows chasing the light. Her expression was calm and still, it showed no sign of pain or discomfort.

_This one's a fighter_ Kalona's words echoed in his mind and it caused his lips to curl into an unintended smile. He walked over to her and knelt beside her cot. He put his hand over hers and gently caressed the top of it with his thumb as he rested his chin on his arm. He stared up at her and quietly whispered what had to have been his hundredth apology of the night.

The flame of the candle on the nightstand sunk low in the cavern of the wax and cast the room into darkness. As he stood to find another candle, the clouds outside parted, bathing the room in moonlight. It inched slowly over Toph's face and Sokka became distracted from his companion for the first time all night.

He walked to the window, leaning his elbows against the sill, closing his eyes and feeling the cool light on his face. "I need your help, Yue." He whispered as his eyes opened again. It was only a crescent moon tonight, but to him it was like seeing her beautiful smile all over again. "Please help her get better, this is all my fault." He rubbed the back of his neck as his eyes drifted downwards. "You know how stupid I can be sometimes. I say things I don't mean, and I keep things to myself that I should say. I'm such an idiot."

"I think the moon knows that, knucklehead." A raspy voice called from behind him, and he almost jumped out of his skin. He jerked around and dived back towards Toph's bed, toppling over the spare cot in the process. He grabbed her hand and brushed her forehead with his fingers, looking frantically over her face.

Her eyes were still closed but she had a weak smile and her fingers softly brushed against his palm. Sokka's heart was in his throat and he was doing everything he could to keep from smothering her or crying. He was at a loss of words for what could have been the first time in his life. He didn't know whether to apologize or thank her or throw all of that out the window and just kiss her. But his rational side reached his vocal chords first. "How do you feel?"

"Like I got shot in the chest with a giant fireball, how do you feel?" Her eyes peeked open just a sliver before they were closed again, but the smile on her face widened and she linked her fingers with his.

He couldn't help but laugh. He squeezed her hand in his and leaned down closer to her. "You saved me." He breathed. "Thank you." The hand on her forehead drifted down her cheek and came to rest on her neck. She leaned her head upwards, allowing him to wrap his fingers under it.

Conscious thought was flying out the window. He leaned forward, resting his forehead on hers just lightly enough where it made contact, but where he wasn't putting weight on her. He closed his eyes and slowly moved his nose over hers a few times before she she responded. "It was worth it".

The words were so quiet, so faint, so distant that he could hardly believe she had said them. Maybe he had imagined it. Maybe she was delusional from the pain or from the herbs that Kalona had fed her. In that moment, Sokka didn't care. He brought his lips down onto hers, barely brushing them until she tilted her head up, leaning into him.

His eyebrows furled together and he brought his hand back to her cheek, cupping it, kissing her deeper. He fought back tears as he felt her lips move under his. Excitement, happiness, remorse, anger, aggression. It was all coursing through him as he felt her fingers grasp tighter on his hand.

His heart plummeted from his throat to his stomach as she pulled away, turning her head to the side, cringing. She had brought her free hand up to her wrappings and gingerly touched the linen. Blood was soaking through it and Sokka began to panic.

"I-I'm so sorry!" He stammered as he jolted up. Her hand went limp on her chest and her head relaxed onto the pillow. She was out again.

* * *

Sokka sat in a chair next to Toph's bed, feet on the table beside it. It was nearly midday now. He was sharpening his sword, trying to keep his hands and mind busy, but he couldn't help stealing glances at the girl in the bed beside him.

Kalona had re-done her wrappings after he had woke her up in a panic the night before. He failed to mention that she had woken up, afraid of being reprimanded for doing anything to cause her too much excitement. She had given Toph another healing session similar to the one he'd seen Katara perform several times, but the earth bender didn't wake up.

The healer moved behind him, working quietly on mixing herbs and ointments. His back was to her but he could hear the grind of her hand mill and the jostling of glass jars. The peaceful silence didn't last long, when another person burst into the hut in a rush.

Sokka didn't turn around but heard a woman's voice speak. It was oddly familiar to him but he couldn't place it. "Kalona! We need you!"

The healer looked up from her work. "What's wrong?"

"We had another incident in training. One of the girls slipped; cut a huge gash in her leg. Should we carry her here?" The woman was calm, but pressing, her voice oddly soft for the severity of her situation.

"I'll come to her." Kalona said, pulling a pouch of water over her shoulder and picking up various supplies. "She's in the training house?" She asked as she was already moving out the door. The other woman simply nodded, and the healer broke into a run, disappearing into the bright sunlight.

Sokka continued to run the stone over his sword, and he felt eyes on the back of his head. He ignored the woman that remained in the hut, slightly irritated that she was still there. He heard her clear her throat a few times and he snapped. "Are you going to gape at us all day or are you going to go help your friend?" He shot over his shoulder, just barely catching a glimpse of her. She was wearing green that was all he caught.

"S-Sokka?" The woman asked, barely a whisper. She took one step forward but stopped. Sokka's shoulders slumped as he rolled his eyes; he stopped working on his sword. _Why does everyone in this rotten town know who I am? _ He asked the ceiling, genuinely annoyed.

He set the weapon and the stone on the table and pushed himself up off the chair to turn around. He was planning a witty, snide comeback to the mention of his name but it was stifled in his throat when he faced the woman straight on.

"Suki?" He was shocked. This was the absolute last thing he had expected. The absolute last thing he needed right now. They hadn't exactly parted on great terms. What was she even doing here? She beat him to the question.

"What are you doing here?" She stepped forward again, and he was at a loss for words. Where should he start? Why was every person he hadn't seen in seven years showing up out of the blue? She saved him from answering the question by asking another as she pointed at the bed. "Who is that?"

He could hear the twinge of jealousy in her voice, and he wasn't sure how to react to it. He did have to fight hard to suppress a smile that was growing inside him at her inability to recognize the blind girl. He decided to take the more charming and bitter route. "It's nice to see you too, Suki, I'm alright, thanks for asking." He saw her face flush under her white face paint, and her hands shot to her hips. "Sorry." He quickly said. "It's Toph, Azula-" The word's escaped him and he sighed and sunk onto her cot.

Suki's face relaxed and she quietly took a seat on the cot across from him, putting a hand on his knee. "We heard the story from the old man that brought you in, but I had no idea it was you two." She ducked her head attempting to make eye contact but he avoided it, instead looking over his shoulder at the earth bender.

"Zuko sent us to track Azula down after the news came that she'd escaped and-" He was interrupted.

"Sokka I live with Ty Lee. I know what happened at the wedding. I guess I just didn't expect you to be here. The few days I'm here to train some warriors you show up." He saw the blush creep onto her face again out of the corner of his eye as she looked down at her hands. "I haven't seen you in so long."

They sat in an awkward silence for what felt like an eternity. He could feel her eyes on him but he couldn't look at her. It still pained him to think of the day he left her and the things he had said. How it would be best if they never spoke again and went on with their lives. He felt her hand move from his knee to his arm and when he looked back she was no longer across from him, but next to him.

He couldn't look away from her and for some reason he completely forgot why he was there and what was going on. She had his eyes locked to hers, with a look that asked _Did you miss me like I missed you?_ She had scooted close to him and he could feel the heat from her body radiating onto his own and suddenly he had trouble breathing. Being this close to her made him feel like he was fifteen again.

The sound of Kalona rushing back into the hut and running to a cabinet made the two jolt apart, and Sokka let go of a breath he hadn't realized he was holding onto. His head shot back to Toph and he grabbed hold of her hand, suddenly feeling a wave of guilt wash over him like he was being doused with a bucket of cold water. He felt Suki get up, her eyes burning a hole in the back of his skull but he didn't dare look at her.

"Suki, your girl should be alright, but I've told her to stay off the leg for at least a week, and to put this on it daily." The healer put a small bottle in Suki's gloved hand. "And that if she has any trouble or discomfort to call for me immediately." Sokka heard Suki mumble her thanks but she didn't move. "Is there something else you need, dear?"

Suki cleared her throat. "No. Thanks so much Kalona, I really appreciate it. I promise we'll be more careful."

"You should be!" Kalona said a smile in her voice. "That's the third girl this week! You're supposed to be training them to injure the rebels, not themselves!" Suki nodded and then turned and disappeared out into the sunlight, but not before she stole one more glance at Sokka, which he noticed out of the corner of his eye.

"What a lovely girl." Kalona noted absentmindedly, picking up the herbs she was griding before she had been called away. "She travels around to different villages, training the young people how to defend themselves. She never asks for compensation, she's so generous and sweet. She really cares about people."

"Yeah." Sokka muttered under his breath. "She does."

* * *

The rest of the day passed by without Toph waking up. Kalona sounded optimistic, saying the burn was healing fine and that Toph's body was just drained from trying to fix itself.

Sokka paced the room at the foot of her bed, walking from the door to the window. The sun was setting and it was flooding the room with pinks and oranges, making the sheets on the blind girl's bed glow. His mind was bouncing back and forth between Toph and Suki, and the odd feelings he was having.

Not even a month ago he was home in the South Pole where the most important decision he had to make was which tiger-seal he wanted to kill for dinner that night. Now all of a sudden he was thrust into a world with earth bending girls, and psychotic, abusive girls, and warrior girls. _Damn my sister and her crazy husband, this is their entire fault._ He kicked the chair lightly as he passed by it and tripped. _Damnit!_

He heard a giggle in the doorway. Suki's frame was silhouetted by the setting sun as she leaned against the jamb watching him. Her face paint was gone and she was wearing a plain dress. As she uncrossed her arms and walked towards him, he noticed a scroll in her hand with a Fire Nation seal on it. She handed it to him. "A messenger hawk just brought this to town; I thought I'd drop it off."

He grabbed it from her hastily and ripped it open. Scanning it quickly he saw it contained the response from the Fire Lord he had expected. First a raging rant about Azula, containing some colorful words he didn't even realize Zuko knew, and then followed by sincere concern for Toph. He also stated that he wasn't sure which was more dangerous, hunting Azula or dealing with a pregnant Katara.

That actually got him to laugh for the first time in three days. Zuko was right; Katara was bossy and whiney enough as it was without the extra dose of hormones and mood swings.

"What's so funny?" Suki's voice broke the image of his sister screaming at Zuko for some random, stupid thing that wasn't just right. He had almost forgotten she was still standing there.

Sokka cleared his throat and rolled up the scroll. "Just a letter from Zuko, I had to tell him what happened." She looked at him, obviously confused at what part of Azula hurting Toph and then escaping was funny. So he quickly added on, "Aang and Katara are staying at the palace until she gives birth and he's confused on how I lived with her for so long without killing myself."

He smirked as she giggled and nodded her head. "Oh yeah, I could only imagine how much worse Katara is right now. I love that girl but she can sure be a handful." Her happy expression melted off her face. "I really miss her. She still writes a lot, but it's not the same."

Sokka felt guilty, he didn't know what to say. He liked being around Suki again, he truly had missed her, but almost everything she said to him just made him feel like a complete jerk.

Kalona emerged from her room, and for the second time today Sokka was grateful she was there. She nodded at them both as she walked past them, placing a bowl of water on the table beside Toph's head and pulling up her stool. She began to undo Toph's wrappings, and Sokka stood transfixed staring at the red and brown stained linens that fell to the ground.

A mixture of anger and nausea boiled inside of him and he slammed the letter down on a desk near him and stalked outside onto the porch of the hut, leaning against its railing, gripping it so hard his knuckles were white. Both women had stared at his commotion but only one followed.

Suki walked next to him and placed over his. He relaxed his grip and pulled his hand away. He scowled at her as she questioned him. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay?" He snapped at her, a little harsher than he had intended. She stepped back frowning and he continued. "What happened to her is my fault! She did that to save me! She didn't even want me on this mission but I forced myself on her and now look! And after everything I said..." His thoughts drifted off as he slammed his fist down on the railing.

"Sokka…I don't know what to say." She put her hand on his shoulder, and he didn't know why it made him angry but it did, so he pushed her away.

"Then don't say anything! Why are you even here? Why do you care?" The words were coming from nowhere; they were just spewing out uncontrollably. "I haven't heard from you in years and you think you can just pop in and be all caring and sentimental and act like you missed me? What, is it because you found me here with Toph? Is that it?"

Her calm demeanor drifted away and anger spread across her face as she stepped backwards and crossed her arms. It looked like she was thinking of how to respond as they stared at each other in silence for a few moments.

"You think I'm _jealous?" _Her words oozed out like poison from a wound.

"Well why else are you acting this way?" His voice was raised and he was doing the best he could not to shatter the railing he was squeezing.

Kalona's head appeared from around the door behind Suki, and Sokka immediately jerked his head back to look out towards the trees. "I don't mean to intrude, but I really need you guys to keep it down. It's very hard to focus on a burn this severe if you're screaming." She looked back and forth between the two, only Suki returned the gaze before the healer ducked back inside.

"I'm going to leave. It's late." Suki said shortly and turned to go, walking down the steps of the porch out onto the grass. She paused and glanced over her shoulder but didn't fully turn around. "Just because you left doesn't mean I stopped loving you. You shut me out of your life, not the other way around." She turned around to face him but he purposely avoided meeting her eyes. "I don't care whether or not you're with Toph, what I care about is that you don't treat me like dirt after not talking to me for seven years. I don't know how long you'll be here for, but I'll be leaving tomorrow, so if you have anything else to say to me I'll be in the training house until midday."

With that she disappeared behind a few trees that lined the path into the village. Sokka sunk to the ground and slammed his head back against the wall of the house. His thoughts were swimming, he felt like nothing he could do was right. He wished more than anything he was back home on the ice with a spear in his hand. He closed his eyes, rubbing them his hands and he sighed. How many times could he possibly screw up this week?

"Sokka?" Kalona's head peered out again from the open doorway, she was smiling. "Toph is awake, and she's asking for you." He leapt to his feet and ran inside. Suddenly nothing else seemed to matter.

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**A/N: There you are. I gave a little taste of Tokka-love, you all deserved it. Please read & review to find out what happens next! What's going to happen now that Suki's back *queue dramatic music*. Hope you all enjoyed! 3**


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